All Over Now
by KyraX
Summary: Naori never had a decent relationship with Hitsugaya. He was her captain and she was his subordinate. End of story. It was pretty normal till someone else had to drive a wedge between them. Is this jealousy looming over her heart? OC x Hitsugaya x OC
1. Prologue

_If you don't want to see how I came up with this story, just skip this entire author's note. Other than that, I had watched a video that was just laying around on Youtube that explored the concepts of relationships. It sort of inspired me to write this story and reread the summary to finish the rest of this author note._

Disclaimer: _I do not own Bleach at all, just my OCs. If I did own Bleach, I would have murdered Aizen from the start!_

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Prologue

She peacefully slept in her comfy bed that was adorned with light colors of pastel. Her chest lightly heaved up and down as she breathed through her sleep. Her room was rather compact in size, but large due to the absence of furniture. She only had a closet, bed, desk, and a flat screen in the entire vicinity of her room. Her floor shone of dark redwood with a white fluffy rug that sat at the surface. Lights shone through the shades of her window and it glimmered against her rosy face. The suns light was so intensely bright that it momentarily stirred the girl. She gradually began to shift out of her sleep and it took more than an hour for her to finally be awake. She loudly yawned and stretched herself out in her bed.

Afterwards, she forced herself out of bed and dropped into her chair at her desk where her dream journal was. Her mornings were always like this. She had kept a dream journal at her bedside and every morning, she would write down her dreams into that journal. She really didn't have much of a purpose for that journal except it was a good hobby of hers and she had nothing better to do on her mornings. She gently tapped her pencil on her cheek as she tried to remember the dream she just had. Sadly, nothing had come into her head. Unsatisfied, she shifted through a batch of organized letters that sat at her desk to see if they would help her remember. Nothing came. But she did find a new letter that hadn't been opened yet.

She sighed of discontent afterwards, closed her journal, and went to the bathroom to take a bath. She must have dozed off while watching TV since she noticed her clothes from the day before were still on. She changed into a fresh new change of clothing and grabbed for her bag. She walked down the stairs of her house and out the door.

"I'm going now!" She yelled back at whomever was still in the house.

She took a short walk down the streets of her neighborhood until she entered a shopping area that was situated near a park. Her gliding steps made short taps against the concrete sidewalk as she continued to walk to her most favorite place in the entire area. It was a comfortable and warm café that sat right at the edge of the area and it had a great view of the park from its windows. She would always go there to drink something and just sit at the seat that was right next to a huge window that showed the park.

Upon relaxing in her special window seat, she spotted someone sitting at one of the benches at the park. He was tapping away into his phone with his serious eyes locked on just the phone. His outfit was very defined: a black shirt with tight dark blue jeans. A black belt ran through the loops of his jeans while a black wristband was wrapped around his right wrist.

'_He's cute.'_ She thought to herself as she sipped her drink. _'Wonder who he's trying to call?'_

Suddenly the boy looked up from his phone and he raised his face to the window of the café. She looked on at him with developing interest until he suddenly smiled out of nowhere. Confused, she looked all around her to see if someone was smiling back. No one had seemed to notice the boy and once she turned back to him, he was already back to pressing the buttons on his phone.

"Excuse me. Do you know where I can find Miyuba Park?" A voice rang out of nowhere.

She averted her gaze to see a girl with a light smile on. The girl obviously seemed very lost as she nervously fumbled around with the bottom of her tank top.

'_Ok…weird…' _She thought as she pointed to the park right out the window. The same park that the boy sat at.

"Oh! Really!?" The girl sheepishly exclaimed. "I'm so sorry to have bothered you!" The girl bowed down as a formal apology and she walked out of the café to the park.

'_Dear self,'_ She recorded in the back of her head. _'What just happened?'_

She looked on at the girl, who had just come up to her seconds ago, and saw that she was heading towards the boy sitting on the bench. She and him had a talk, which at times looked serious and others laid back. He gave a sigh and he walked away from the bench. He slowed down and stopped in his steps and turned around, ushering the girl to follow him. The girl gave a small smile and she ran after the boy and they both disappeared into the crowded streets nearby.

'_They're a cute couple…'_ She thought and her phone rang afterwards.

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Eh…it's not that much of a prologue to me. I just didn't know what else to call this. If I explained why then it would ruin the entire story. Just bear with it and review!


	2. Escape

_The first real chapter of this story that I completely made up in the back of my head and never got a chance to type it up and post it till now. School is almost ending! Woohoo! And I'll be posting lots and lots of chapters in the summer!! Not really actually..._

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Escape

Hitsugaya continued to shuffle through his lieutenant's papers as he worked in his day in the office. Actually, every day was paperwork day for him since a certain somebody never bothers to show up for work. Hitsugaya gave a second groan as he passed the finished papers out of his way and he stared down the long columns of the leftover to finish. Matsumoto better show up so he can freeze her sorry butt to the desk.

'_I don't get it'_, Hitsugaya mumbled in his thoughts as he ran his ink pen across the umpteenth page of paperwork. _'I'm gone for just fifteen minutes and the paperwork triples!'_

Suddenly, the door slammed right open and Matsumoto clumsily shuffled into the office. Her rosy blushing cheeks and her odd pigeon-toed walk was a clear sign she had gotten herself drunk…again…and it was still the morning.

"You ditched work again, Matsumoto." Hitsugaya grumbled with his left eye twitching with annoyance. "Care to explain yourself?"

"Ehh!! I'm so sorry! Taicho!!!" Matsumoto cheerfully chirped on in a drunken drawl. "I was working like you said and then Kira came!"

Twitch. _'And just how many times have I heard that one?'_ Hitsugaya thought with his icy aura dropping the temperature.

"And then Kira offered me to drink with him and I was like no! And he was like yes! I told him I was working and he told me to take a break! I thought about it and before I knew it I was out of the office!" Matsumoto continued to babble on. "All in the end, it was all Kira's fault!"

Twitch. Twitch. Twitch. Matsumoto gave a small chuckle and her captain suddenly dropped his head down, covering his menacing face with the shadows of his head.

"In that case, why don't you fini-" Hitsugaya began through gritted teeth and he raised his head. Matsumoto was gone. "MATSUMOTO!!!!!!"

Matsumoto quickly shunpoed across at least five division areas without stopping. This time, he was really pissed off and Matsumoto knows it's best to run for it before he finishes that paperwork and hunts her down. Matsumoto weaved in and out through the maze-like corridors of Seireitei and jumped at least ten feet into the air to cover more distance. Her increasing speed developed into such a strong wind, it almost knocked the papers right out of the fifth seat officer of the 10th Division, Naori Hibana.

The wind blasted right through Naori and she could feel her dark blue hair blowing away from her face. She tightened her hold on the stack of papers she was delivering and she turned around to see who just ran by. "Matsumoto-fukutaicho…" Naori trailed on in blank awe. "You forgot your paperwork!" There was no answer from Matsumoto.

Matsumoto barrowed through the 5th Division front doors and she trampled at least twenty officers on her way to the main office. She busted through the office doors to see Hinamori comfortably reading one of her books in one of the couches. Hinamori was about to flip to the next page when someone started yelling through her ear.

"Rangiku-san!!" Hinamori exclaimed in surprise. "You should go back to your office or Hitsugaya-kun will have to find you again!"

"Hinamori-chan!! I need a place to hide!" Matsumoto pleaded. "Or else Taicho will find me and-"

"And I'll what?" A voice sternly rang out from behind Matsumoto.

Matsumoto nervously jumped in surprise and Hinamori peered out from behind Matsumoto to get a good glimpse of who was talking. "Hey Hitsugaya-kun!!" Hinamori greeted and Matsumoto jumped again.

"Hello Hinamori", Hitsugaya replied and he shot another ice-cold dagger stare at Matsumoto. "Matsumoto, I think we should leave Hinamori with the little bits of peace she has left and return to the office. Shall we?"

Matsumoto gulped and she stood up to follow after her captain. God knows what he would do to her after they are a couple of feet from Hinamori. She knew that the last thing her captain wanted was that Hinamori would see the mad berserker side of him that he usually showed in the stressful afternoons. They took a quick shunpo back to the office in awkward silence and Matsumoto was still shaking in fear.

"Matsumoto", Hitsugaya said in an abnormally cold, yet calm voice. "Immediately start working on the paperwork that you have left behind from today and yesterday, not to mention the day before. If I sense even the tiniest bit of your reiatsu escape from my barrier, then I have no qualms to freeze you to your own chair. Understand?"

Matsumoto nodded and her head shook so much, the locks of her strawberry blonde hair were brushing against her eyes. _'I'll get you for this!'_ Matsumoto mischievously thought in her head. "Hey, hey Taicho! Come here for a sec." Matsumoto said in a flirty fashion and she wagged out her finger to beckon Hitsugaya to come closer.

Hitsugaya appeared unfazed as he walked up to his lieutenant. In seconds flat, Hitsugaya could feel his very face pressing against a certain area of his lieutenants. His face had only shown a hint of surprise and red. Matsumoto gleefully shoved Hitsugaya in further and the immense pressure of anger within Hitsugaya skyrocketed.

Twitch. Twitch. Twitch. Twitch. Twitch. Twitch. "MAAAATSUMOTOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!"

What seemed like hours later, Matsumoto was still tediously scratching all over her overdue papers. She had been working non-stop and nothing had distracted her since then. But, a woman like her needs a break once in a while and Matsumoto was desperate at this moment. Matsumoto tried her best to finish the columns of work, but the breezy atmosphere outside kept her interests of going outside. Too bad her captain's dumb barrier was keeping her locked in. Suddenly, another officer entered into the office.

'_Wow…two minutes…that's a new record.'_ Naori recorded in the back of her head of the amount of time it took for Hitsugaya to catch Matsumoto. "Here are the papers I-"

"Naori!!!" Matsumoto yelped in happiness. Her face completely read that she was very happy that another officer had come to her rescue. "Hey! Can you please help me get out of here!? Please!!"

Naori didn't answer and her face had stayed blank from the moment she came in.

"Please!!!"

Naori's eyes and body still didn't budge an inch and she stood still at her place. She continuously stared on at Matsumoto with her almost dull golden eyes, scaring the lieutenant for a moment.

"How come you're not answering?" Matsumoto curiously asked.

"That's because she's smart enough to realize the deception", a voice replied from right behind Naori. Hitsugaya stood at the doorway, glaring at Matsumoto with what seemed like a dozen icicles. "You're dismissed, Naori."

Naori nodded in silence and she shunpoed right out of sight. Gathered dust from the stacks of papers had blown away after Naori disappeared and it flew right into Matsumoto's face.

"Achoo!!" Matsumoto sneezed and she gingerly wiped her nose. Her second chance was foiled by _her_, out of all people.

"Did you know the walls had ears, Matsumoto?" Hitsugaya said in a part angry and devilish grin. "I made it so there's no escape. Now GET BACK TO WORK!!!!!!"

"Yes sir", Matsumoto mumbled out and she turned back to that huge pile of neatly stacked papers.

Hitsugaya gave a slight glare at the lazy worker and he shuffled out of the office after reinforcing his barrier a notch. Matsumoto rolled her eyes and continued on the paperwork. Only a little bit less than an hour and a huge crowd began gathering up near the office.

"Whoa!! Matsumoto-fukutaicho is working!" One astonished worker exclaimed.

"How long has she been going?" Another asked.

"An hour."

"That's the longest we had yet!"

"I know! But I bet she can't last for another fifteen minutes!"

"Why!?"

"Because it's almost the evening and it's drinking time."

Matsumoto felt slight pulsing veins pulsating on her scalp. If it weren't for that dumb barrier, she would have made them pay for tonight's night out. That'll show them to mess with a vice captain. Also, with their entire chit chattering from right outside the office, she found it extremely difficult to concentrate on the numerous stacks of paperwork.

"Break it up!" Naori commanded to the crowd who happened to be a lower seat than she is.

"Please!" Hinamori innocently pleaded. "Rangiku-san needs to concentrate!"

The crowd looked at each other, looked at Hinamori once and immediately dispersed. They just couldn't hurt the 5th Division lieutenant, knowing full well about her previous trauma issues and also, that their captain will kill them if anything were to happen to her. Anything. The 5th seat on the other hand…same thing.

"Hey! You here to bust me out again!?" Matsumoto anxiously asked. "Don't worry! I'll forgive you for last time, Naori."

"Nah", Naori said, waving her hands to say a definite no. "Hitsugaya-taicho just ordered me to retrieve all the hidden sake you have in the office."

"I'm coming because I don't have anything to do tonight!" Hinamori enthusiastically piped in. "Maybe we could spend some time here."

"Yeah go ahead. Make yourself comfortable!" Matsumoto said and gestured to one of the couches in the room. She then gave a pleading look at Naori. "Please!! Just don't take my sake from me! Please!!"

Naori gave a slight sideways glance at the woman and after two seconds, she gave out a long sigh. "Fine." Naori muttered. "I won't take away your sake. But if I get in trouble, it's all your fault!"

"But won't Hitsugaya-kun hear you?" Hinamori asked in concern. "He has numerous kido spells placed here and one of them is that he can hear whatever's happening in the office."

"Nah! Taicho's probably asleep now!" Matsumoto quickly brushed off. "He always wants to get as much sleep as possible so he can grow into a big boy!"

"Not true…" Naori corrected. "Sleep is only one factor that contributes to vertical growth. A number of other factors are still in play and Hitsugaya-taicho needs to enhance one of those other factors in order to grow. Or maybe it's a genetic thing for the captain."

"Really!" Hinamori exclaimed, now thinking of ways to make the little friend of hers grow. Maybe that'll wipe the frown off his face. "It's a good thing you used to be in the 4th Division, Naori-chan!"

"Heh", Naori slightly smirked. "It was fun and all to be in the wimpiest Division in all of the entire Gotei 13. But all I did was learn advance healing techniques and paperwork."

"Of yeah!" Matsumoto exclaimed in a sudden. "That reminds me! If you guys are staying, then how about you help me with the paperwork!?"

Hinamori and Naori's faces read between shock, surprise and a definite no go after the offer. Hinamori suddenly stood up from her seat on the couch afterwards.

"That reminds me!" Hinamori quickly said and bolted out the door. "I have some business I need to attend back in my office! I'm sorry Rangiku-san!"

Naori frantically looked around for anything as an excuse. "My apologies Matsumoto-fukutaicho! I need to get back to my night patrol!" Naori made up on the spot.

"But you don't do night patrol", Matsumoto pointed out, but once she turned back to look at Naori, Naori was already out of sight. Matsumoto gave a short sigh and returned back to her desk. "And even they still won't help me…" Matsumoto muttered under her breath.

Matsumoto was about to sit back down at her desk when a thought struck her. _'Hold on! If Taicho is asleep right now…then he won't be awake to sense my reiatsu! So I can get out of this hell without him noticing!!'_ Matsumoto pumped her fists into the air in joy. "Sweet freedom!!!" Matsumoto yelled and shunpoed right out the door. _'I bet there are still some places that are still open at this hour!'_ Matsumoto happily thought. _'Oohh! I'm going to drink all that sweet sake till dawn! And the check can go to Taicho as payback! Sake! Sake! Sake!'_

Matsumoto suddenly stopped in her tracks when a black fluttering object crossed her eye. She lifted her finger and the fluttering Hell Butterfly slowly landed on her fingers. _'Why's there a message at this time?'_ Matsumoto thought, confused. Then, she suddenly gasped out of nowhere as if the message was dire and she ran off as fast as possible. Her speed was so overwhelmingly fast that it took her no longer than two minutes to appear back at the 10th Division area.

"Taicho!!!" Matsumoto yelled and she slammed the doors of the _Captain's_ Quarters open.

The shaking and yelling was so loud and powerful that Hitsugaya literally jumped out of his bed and crash-landed onto the floor. Suddenly, an all too familiar "MAASTUMOTOOOO!!!!!!!" could be heard throughout the entire 10th Division and beyond.

"Hmm!" Yachiru hummed, lightly intrigued. "Whitey-Short Stack must be really, really mad."

"Taicho!! But it's important!" Matsumoto whined and placed on a very pouty face.

"Why the hell are you in my room? The Captain's Quarters to be exact. Yelling at me while I'm still asleep." Hitsugaya grumbled since he already woken up on the wrong side of the bed before even shutting his eyes. "Even if it was really important, I still see no reason why you have to parade into my room like that. I should make you do twice the paperwork as punishment."

"I'm serious!! This is really, really important!" Matsumoto continued to whine and she immediately started to report the message. "All captains are to go to an emergency captain's meeting at this minute! No excuses!! You must attend!"

Hitsugaya's eyes widened and gasped. "What!?"

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That ends a chapter and next chapter is about the late night captain's meeting. Review cause I want to know how it's working for you guys.


	3. Night Meeting

_It is fun to make captains argue during a meeting and it's also fun to see Yamamoto freak out because no one is listening to him! He like speaks a couple of words and everyone else starts arguing afterwards._

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Night Meeting

'_What is the meaning of this?'_ The thought continuously ran through Hitsugaya's mind. _'This is too sudden for a captain's meeting! Why would the Captain Commander be calling a meeting in the middle of the night?'_

"Ah! So I see you're pondering the same thought." A cheerful and tired voice rang out behind Hitsugaya.

Hitsugaya suddenly stopped in his hurry to the meeting and averted his gaze to the man behind him. It was Ukitake and he was also still in his sleepwear as well. The call for the meeting was so sudden that they didn't have enough time to change into their captain wear.

"Hitsugaya-taicho…" Ukitake said in a very serious tone, causing Hitsugaya to actually be interested in what he had to say. "Since it's the middle of the night…why don't we have a little midnight snack!!? I brought your favorite sweets and chocolate this time!!"

Hitsugaya's face went dead and he turned around to continue to his way to the meeting. "No thank you." Hitsugaya hurried and shunpoed here and there to make it to the meeting. Because of Ukitake, valuable time was lost and he was running a little later than usual.

Hitsugaya made it to the doors and pushed it right open, revealing a huge cluster of captain's and some lieutenants. They all looked either very confused or very worried or didn't give a damn what the situation was and just wanted to go back to bed. Also, all of them were still in their nightclothes and it seemed as if no one has changed for the meeting. Even Byakuya Kuchiki, was wearing in his nightclothes! But he still looked like a rich bastard in his sleepwear.

"Hinamori?" Hitsugaya said as he approached the young girl, in her brown kimono, sitting on the floor. "Did you get the same message as well?"

Hinamori nodded in response and said, "Yeah, I got the message. It's a little strange though."

"You're telling me." Hitsugaya replied. "Matsumoto had woken me up so she could deliver the message of the captain's meeting. But why are you lieutenants here at a captain's meeting?"

Hinamori shrugged. "Probably to represent our Division since we are currently the leading officer. But I still don't understand why it's so important that every captain is summoned here in the middle of the night?"

"They're going to reveal it to us during the meeting perhaps." Soifon interrupted in. She wore a simple black ninja-like wear with a cat stitched on the front. "But they better make it quick so I can get back to my dream about me and Yoruichi-sama-"

"I heard enough!" Hitsugaya quickly intervened and he walked away. He could really care less about what Soifon was dreaming up. It's just that whenever Soifon mentions her former mentor, he wouldn't want his virgin ears to crack under the pressure.

Hinamori gotten up from her seat on the floor and she would've run after Hitsugaya if someone hadn't yelled out. "The Captain Commander is coming!!" and then, everyone scrambled all over the place to try to get to their spots. Hinamori scrambled to position herself right next to Kira in order to await the Captain Commander. Hitsugaya barely budged an inch since he was already standing at his spot. The doors slammed open and the old captain walked in and sat at his seat…with his white sleeping kimono still on. But, barely any snickers could be heard.

"My apologies for bringing you out so late." Yamamoto announced and cleared his throat. "Captains of their divisions and the representing lieutenants. I have to announce that Soul Society now has another dire situation in its hands."

"What could be so dire that we have to wake up in the middle of the night?" Kenpachi growled as he whined. "I rather be asleep."

"Let me explain." Yamamoto replied in an annoyed tone. "At exactly two hours of this day, the 12th Division monitors had picked up a spiritual entity with incredibly large amounts of spiritual pressure in the world of the living. It's all condensed into one object and any trace of that spiritual pressure is enough to send a spree of hollows."

"Find it and kill it then." Kenpachi retorted back in a growl.

"You fool!" An annoyed Mayuri insulted. "This thing has large amounts of spiritual pressure. And by large, I mean the amount of five captains combined! Kill it in the world of the living and hollows will never sleep!!"

"What do you suppose we do?" Kenpachi argued back. "Bring it back to Soul Society and kill it here?"

"Impossible!" Mayuri spat back at him. "The entity's body acts as a container for all that spiritual pressure. Removing it from its body won't change anything! Do I have to spell it out for you!? You twit!"

"You want to make something of it?" Kenpachi threatened and approached the clown-like captain in front of him.

"Here we go again." Hitsugaya muttered. "Same old thing every time. Old fools caught up in stupid bickering."

"Enough!" Yamamoto roared. His roar was so loud that it rattle the windowpanes and it made even Kenpachi twitch a little. The two finally ceased to argue and they turned their attention back to Yamamoto. "I will be sending high-ranked shinigami to handle this situation. The entity is still immature, but soon it will be able to use its powers for its own good."

"Count me out." Kenpachi said. "I'm not interested in fighting amateurs."

"I'm not finished." Yamamoto gave a slight glare at Kenpachi. "Gotei 13 still needs to strengthen their forces ever since the defection of Aizen, Gin and Tousen. So therefore, we would need most of the captains here in Soul Society and probably, some of the higher seats in all divisions. It would be likely to only send one captain and a couple of their subordinates on this long term mission."

"I can't go." Soifon said. "I need to shape up Special Forces. They are lacking of this day."

"My apologies. I can't go either." Unohana politely rejected. "I still have urgent medical issues that I need to attend to."

"And I don't think my body can handle a long term mission." Ukitake piped in.

"I don't want to hear any more excuses!" Yamamoto barked, shutting everybody up. "I already know the background behind this entity. It is currently in Karakura Town as we speak."

"Great, send Kurosaki to eliminate it!" Kyoraku said, tipping his night hat to cover his face.

"Absolutely not!" Yamamoto said. "That kid is incapable of following simple orders. Remember all those times I personally ordered him to do something and he just goes against it all the way."

"Actually, the only time you gave him an order was the time Inoue Orihime had gotten kidnapped." Kyoraku pointed out.

"Enough!" Yamamoto retorted. "Kurosaki Ichigo would be the most unreliable for this mission. He doesn't have enough will power to kill a dangerous innocent. He would most likely refuse to eliminate our target and then we would have to fight against our ally."

"So who would you suppose we send to deal with this problem?" Kyoraku asked.

"Well, if I'm correct, the entity is a human who attends to the same school as Kurosaki. And I also believe that there is only one captain in here who can masquerade as a high school student." Yamamoto eyed a certain shorty that stood only a couple of feet away.

Hitsugaya's eyes wandered off up to the corners of the room. The meeting had gotten so boring that he just couldn't keep his attention straight. _'I wonder if Matsumoto has done any of the paperwork that was assigned today?'_ Hitsugaya wondered and he also began to think of ways to keep the lieutenant permanently quarantined inside the office tomorrow.

"Hitsugaya-kun!!" A whisper that Hitsugaya noticed as Hinamori's and he quickly turned back to the situation. Hinamori's face showed a cross of being embarrassed and worried as she gave a slight nod to Yamamoto.

"Hitsugaya-taicho. I am sending you on the long-term mission. Understood?" Yamamoto barked out and Hitsugaya nodded in agreement. Just because he wasn't paying any attention to the meeting, didn't mean he had no idea what was going on. Yamamoto nodded and afterwards, he said, "You will be deployed tomorrow to search for the human. Bring any of your officers with you, except for your lieutenant. We will be needing full forces in Gotei 13 if anything ever happens."

"I understand. I will do my best to get this accomplished." Hitsugaya said while thinking, _'Damn! Now Matsumoto will never get that paperwork done!!'_

"In that case, meeting adjourned!" Yamamoto bellowed and he left the room immediately afterwards. He was probably going to get some sleep since an old man like him needed some.

Everyone else was the same. They were groggily stepping out of the captain's meeting room and heading back to their beds. Byakuya decided to take a short cut and he shunpoed gracefully back to his estate to get some sleep. On the other hand, others were yawning and rubbing their eyes as they strolled through the empty hallways of the night. Also, Kenpachi would be the one most likely to not make it in time for bed since he got lost. Again. For the tenth time today.

"Hey Hitsugaya-kun!" Hinamori grinned as she strolled along with Hitsugaya since he offered to walk her home. "Who do you plan on bringing to this mission?"

"I don't know yet…" Hitsugaya pondered on the thought. "But all I want to do is finish the mission up as quickly as possible so I can return back to the office."

"Aww!! You're such an adorable workaholic!" Hinamori cooed on and she was about to pinch her best friends cheeks like she used to back in their days of Rokungai.

Hitsugaya merely brushed her hand off of his face. "I told you!!" He suddenly shouted at Hinamori in a growling voice.

"What!?" Hinamori gasped out, confused and shocked.

"It's Hitsugaya-taicho, not Hitsugaya-kun." Hitsugaya said in a warm and genuine smile. But that smile would soon disappear when he found out whom he was working with the next day.

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Poor Yamamoto! Everyone's interrupting him in mid-sentence. End of that chapter and please review so I can know how I'm doing in this story!


	4. Rocky Beginnings

_Haruka is my feeble attempt in making a Mary-Sue. I just did it for the heck of it and she won't be necessary as the story continues on. Amui is the real second female lead in this fic._

_I'm also seeing not a lot of reviews. Just three on my first three chapters. (Sad face) I'm not asking for more reviews, I'm just looking if my story needs any constructive criticism… Duh! I'm asking for more reviews! :)_

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Rocky Beginnings

"Tell me why I'm the only one with you on this mission?" She lazily asked and gave a slight glance at her captain.

"Matsumoto has to stay back due to direct orders from the Captain Commander." Hitsugaya explained. "The third and fourth seat were already sent on missions and you were the only available officer. Right, Naori Hibana?"

Naori scoffed and she pushed back her shoulder-length dark blue hair away from her face as the wind blew by. They were already in the world of the living, in their gigais, walking to Karakura High School where their target was. Naori slowly closed her tired, yet shining amber eyes and sighed, "I hate to break it to you, but you got the wrong person for this job. I'm a medical officer with healing capabilities, not a search and destroy type of guy."

"You were the only highest officer available and I had to pick someone." Hitsugaya pointed out as they arrived near the main gate. "And I rather see you work than lounge around somewhere in the Division quarters."

"But I do work! Who do you think does Matsumoto-fukutaicho's paperwork when she goes drinking?" Naori retorted back.

"What?"

"Uh-So who's the target we're searching for?" Naori nervously asked and plopped herself into one of the benches nearby.

"Some girl named Haruka Ayumishi." Hitsugaya answered.

In a classroom that was just on the third floor, a girl sat at her place in her desk. She playfully fingered around with her waist-length caramel hair as she kept reading her book. Suddenly, she glanced up from her book and looked on at a group of girls before her. _'It's her again.'_ She thought once her dark brown eyes caught onto one specific girl.

The other girl had light silver hair with tints of purple within them. She had one of the prettiest smiles as described by others and her eyes looked as if it held the blue ocean waves. Her silver hair had reached down to her waist as well and it was fashioned off to a stylish ponytail. She looked back and noticed that the other girl reading the book was looking at her. She smiled and ran up to the sitting girl.

"Hello Amui Shizumiya!" She said in a pleasant voice. "Is that my seat to the right?"

"Ayumishi-san. For the tenth time today…" Amui said in slight annoyance. "Your seat is to my left, not the right."

Haruka was pretty in most ways and she could probably be one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. "God's Favorite Child" was what some students and teachers have already named her. Well, "God Favorite Child" must have been a fake since God had never blessed his favorite child with this thing called a brain. Yes, Haruka was the nicest and prettiest, yet one of the dumbest people you'll ever meet. As of this day, she was still in Special Education Classes.

Amui rolled her eyes at Haruka and returned to her book. Though it didn't show, at times she would feel a little envious at Haruka. But Haruka had always been so nice to her, it was hard to hold a grudge.

Suddenly, the door slammed open and it immediately awoke Amui from her book. A boy of spiky silver white hair and a girl with dark blue hair wandered into the room. The boy's serious façade seriously reminded Amui of a very busy businessman while the girl made her think of some laid back woman that would not care if anyone made a remark of her weird eyes. The boy looked around the room as if he was searching for something and his eyes suddenly stopped right at Amui's direction.

'_What is he looking for?'_ Amui thought as he came walking at her direction. _'Oh no!! He's heading this way! Is he going to talk to me? But I never met this guy! What does he want?'_

And while Amui was in the middle of thinking, he had walked right pass her and to an oblivious Haruka.

'_Figures.'_ Amui grimly thought and she settled back down to her book.

"Hello! Are you new to this school?" Haruka asked as she greeted the stranger.

He nodded and answered, "My name is Hitsugaya Toushirou and this is Hibana Naori." He gestured to the girl with the weird yellow eyes in the back. "We're new and I'm asking where we sign in? Do you mind if you show us the way?"

Things had gotten more interesting for Amui and she poked her ears into the conversation. _'Now that you look at him more closely, he is…kinda cute in an adorable way.' _Amui thought as she stared on into Hitsugaya's teal eyes.

"My name is Haruka Ayumishi and I'll be glad to help you." Haruka agreed and grabbed Hitsugaya's arms. "I'll bring you guys over to the office right now!"

Out of curiosity, Amui followed after the trio as they exited the room. She quietly snuck out of the classroom and steadily followed after them. Her steps had barely made a sound as she came even closer to them. As she snuck around, she could hear bits and pieces of their conversation.

"So where was the last school you went to?" She could hear Haruka say.

"Somewhere else." Hitsugaya simply answered.

Naori's eyes darted to her backside when she had noticed a sudden presence from behind. She frowned at the eavesdropper but, didn't say a word and continued to walk forward.

"Your friend doesn't talk much does she?" Haruka asked as she waved her hand in front of an unfazed Naori.

"I would prefer she didn't." Hitsugaya said and then he gestured for Haruka's attention. "This night, see me by Miyuba Park. Okay?"

"Okay!!" Haruka immediately agreed without questions.

'_This is too easy.'_ Hitsugaya thought in content. _'Good thing our target is a complete idiot.'_ Hitsugaya stopped in his tracks when they made it to the office. "Thank you for showing the way." He thanked and gave a small wave.

Haruka giggled. "You're welcome" And she ran off waving goodbye to both Naori and Hitsugaya.

As Haruka ran through the hallways, she had not noticed Amui who had hidden herself in a small corner. Amui walked out from the shadows of the hallway and she glanced off around the corner. _'Wow…only ten seconds and they already have a date together.'_ Amui sarcastically thought. _'I should go back now before the teacher realizes I'm gone.'_ Amui stepped out of her hiding place and she turned to go back to her classroom. Only seconds later, she felt something hit her in the shoulder and she felt her body tumble to the ground.

"You okay?" Hitsugaya asked and Amui's eyes widened when she had heard his voice.

"I'm fine!" She stammered out in embarrassment and she quickly tried to pick herself up. _'I hope he didn't see me snooping around!!'_ But as she got up, her hands had gotten caught in her skirt and she quickly fell back down. _'Great way to completely make a fool of yourself!'_ She grumbled in her head and struggled to try again.

"Do you need help?" Hitsugaya asked and he held out his hand for Amui to grab.

"It's okay!" Amui half-snapped. Then, she unusually started to babble so fast that both Hitsugaya and Naori couldn't comprehend on what she was trying to say. "I'm fine! Really! You should get to class now! I don't want to hold you back on the first day! You really need to hurry or the teacher won't let you into the class! Oh! That reminds me! I'm late as well! Bye!!" And she sped off.

'_What's wrong with me? Why did I just do that?'_ Amui frantically thought as she ran back to her classroom. _'I made a fool of myself again. Why do I always babble whenever I'm so nervous!? God! I wish I would never see him again! He better not tell the whole school about this or I won't be able to show my face here again!!!'_

Amui quickly made a left turn, leading into her class' hallway. She was about to slide the corner again when she abruptly stopped at the sight. A familiar set of eyes stared daggered eye at her and they still shone bright yellow when they were as cold as ice. Amui cautiously stepped closer to the door as Naori continued to stand there, with her arms crossed on her chest, silently boring her eyes into Amui.

"Watch yourself." Naori quietly said that Amui was about to lean over to hear it better, but the deadly aura Naori had around herself had prevented her from doing so.

'_What's her problem?'_ Amui thought as she entered the classroom with her brown eyes locked onto Naori's golden ones. Then, her foot suddenly caught onto the frame of the door that was on the ground. _'Shit! Why didn't I see that!?'_ Amui was about to scream, as she would crash into the floor. What she had expected was the cold hard ground suddenly became a pair of arms, encasing her body and it felt as if she was floating back to the surface.

"You seem to fall a lot?" A recognizable voice rang through Amui's ears. She opened her eyes and saw those teal eyes yet again.

'_Speak of the devil.'_ A numb thought played through her head. She quickly got herself out of Hitsugaya's arms and straightened herself up. "I'm fine. Really I'm fine."

Naori blankly looked on at her captain and she shuffled out of the room with no words. "Just be more careful." Hitsugaya reminded Amui and with that, he quickly followed after Naori.

'_If I bump into him a third time, I'm seriously cursed.'_ Amui thought once the two of them were out of sight.

The teacher called in and everyone scrambled to get into his or her assigned seats. Amui quietly plopped into her seat and rested her head to prepare for the class' boring lecture. It started with "this" and ended with "that" and Amui would just sleep through the entire thing. Throughout the constant mumbling, she heard someone sit down right behind her. Amui quickly turned around to see who it was and her eyes widened again at the sight. Guess who it was?

"You again!!!" Amui screamed in surprise and Hitsugaya barely lifted an eyebrow at her. Everybody turned towards her and recognizing this, Amui slowly turned to a deep shade of red.

"Amui Shizumiya. Go stand in the hall." The teacher said as he gestured for Naori to sit down.

Amui furiously mumbled something inaudible and she haughtily stood up to walk out the door. Before walking out, she gave a slight glance at a confused Hitsugaya, who just blankly stared back at her in return.

'_What the hell is her problem?'_ Hitsugaya thought.

Amui shook her head and stepped out of the classroom. Her head spun here and there and she could still feel the red hotness in her face. Soon, the teacher beckoned for Amui to return back to the classroom and to apologize to Hitsugaya formally.

"Sorry…" Amui grumbled and bowed down as formal as she could.

Hitsugaya just glanced at her for more than two seconds and then returned to his work. He seemed like he didn't care and that there was something else on his mind. Amui just couldn't get what he was pondering and what was making him frown so much. Amui shook it off and she turned to exit back to her desk…where Naori stood next to.

Naori continued to give a blank, yet daggered-eye stare at Amui and when Amui stared back, she never twitched once. Naori crossed her arms and silently spoke in whisper that only Amui could hear. "Don't come out tonight…or you'll regret it."

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How was my character creation? If Haruka pisses you off because…yeah... And if Amui looks weird now...will explain in later chapters. Also, how'd it feel to see my other OC, Naori Hibana, a very laid-back fifth seat who suddenly turns into a silent glaring b%$^& who threatens people as well. Will explain later! Please review cause I still want to see how I'm doing. Any suggestions are fine!


	5. Fated Night

_Sorry if I've hadn't updated this fic in such a loong time!! I just got hooked into another series called "School Rumble" and it's majorly hilarious. How have I not heard of it before! Also, thanks to those who have reviewed and I wish for more reviewers! Also thank you for sticking around since I've haven't updated in such a long time!_

_And yes, Amui has a juice addiction if you were wondering after reading the first few paragraphs..._

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Fated Night

Amui gave a great large sigh and collapsed into her couch. Her parents were out on some business trip for like an entire year and she had to live all by herself. Amui actually didn't really mind. She had the house all to herself and she could do anything she wanted with it. It's not really all that bad. Amui had just got out of the bath and she continued rubbing the towel on her long locks of golden brown hair as she flipped through the channels.

'_Gosh! There's nothing on these days!'_ Amui thought in boredom. Her stomach gave a rumble and Amui could feel a large lump in her throat. _'I'm thirsty.'_ She thought and walked to the kitchen.

When she opened the refrigerator, she noticed there was absolutely nothing liquid-y left. There were only a couple batches of food, some freeze dried stuff, and some other unidentified crap. Amui continued to feel a lump in her throat and an uncomfortable dry feeling came over her like desert sand.

'_I need juice!'_ Amui decided and slammed the refrigerator door shut. _'That store is still open! I'll just walk like five blocks, get juice, and walk back! This is an emergency! I need juice!!!'_

Amui grabbed her coat and she bolted out the door to get juice. The store she regularly bought her juice from was around the shopping area right next to Miyuba Park. Amui walked only a couple of minutes to the store and she had gotten her juice. It was her favorite strawberry-banana juice with a spritz of kiwi. It wasn't long till Amui had her juice in her shopping bag and she was walking through Miyuba Park to go home.

Miyuba Park was a large park filled with open fields and lush gardens. It even had a playground and a large pond in it. It had a bunch of randomly created fountains scattered in it. There were also sturdy benches that were in the paths of the park and around the park as well. Amui would usually see either couples or old people sitting on those benches. But there was only one place in the entire park where couples are assured they won't get interrupted. It was an old bench with an arch of bloody red roses over it and it was smartly situated right at the edge of the park where it's always dark and creepy. But no one ever uses it because it's so creepy. Amui used to call that spot "The Stupidest Place for Romance" or "Dark Haven".

Amui had to walk through Miyuba Park since it was her shortcut home. Suddenly, something caught her eye and Amui walked back down the path to see what. Her dark brown eyes widened of the sight and she almost let out a loud gasp if her hands weren't there. It was Haruka!! Obliviously standing right in the middle of a field, looking around to see if anyone was around. She happily hummed a song to herself and rocked back in forth, patiently waiting for them to come.

'_W-W-What the-!!?'_ Amui ducked herself into a nearby bush. _'That idiot! What is she doing standing all alone in the middle of the night!? No! That's not the question! The real question is: why can't she see them!?'_

Amui's eyes followed the two shadows as they inched closer and closer to Haruka. They were blurry at first and their clothes were hard to make out. It was when they walked under a nearby lamppost; Amui was able to distinguish the two. They both wore black kimono-like robes, but one wore some kind of a white haori on top of his. One carried his sword on his back and the other at her waist. But it wasn't the clothes at threw them off, it was his spiky white hair and her golden eyes.

"She's still immature so she won't be able to see us." Hitsugaya explained.

"So this airhead has the power of five captains combined." Naori amusingly replied. "How do you think we are to dispose of this thing?"

'_Wait!! They're going to kill her!?'_ Amui realized in horror.

"Dispose is too strong of a word." Hitsugaya coolly said. "You are forgetting that the protection of the souls is a shinigami's top priority and…"

'_I need to get her out of there before they do anything else!'_ Amui realized and she snuck around a couple of other bushes for Haruka's attention. "Ayumishi! Ayumishi!" Amui whispered and she gestured for Haruka to come.

Luckily, Haruka recognized Amui's signals and she rushed over to the bush. "Shizumiya-san. I didn't expect for you to be her. Well I was waiting for Hitsugaya-kun to come, but he never did. I think he is very rude. He asks me out to a park and he stands me up! How rude!!!"

"Shh!! Shh!! Be quiet!" Amui said in a hush voice. "We're going to get out of here before they-"

"Hitsugaya-taicho, she's gone." Naori pointed out. "That's what you get for making her wait too long."

"I did not stand her up. It's her own fault that she can't see me." Hitsugaya exasperatedly said and simply waved his hand towards Haruka. "Bakudo Number 4: Hainawa."

A long yellow energy rope shot out of his hand and it zapped closer to the fleeing pair. Soon, the energy rope wrapped itself around Haruka's arms and she ceased to move. Amui stopped running as well and she struggled to try and get Haruka's arms apart.

"My arms!! I can't move!" Haruka frantically exclaimed.

"Hold on!! Just a little longer!" Amui grunted and she continued to struggle to get Haruka's arms apart. But the yellow rope that had wrapped it wouldn't budge at all and it was as if it had been glued in there.

"You again?" A surprised voice could be heard above Amui.

Amui gradually stopped in her work and she slowly lifted her head to see Hitsugaya and Naori looking down at her. Naori had a pretty relaxed face before, but she now showed a sudden switch to a face of a stone statue. Hitsugaya still kept his cold-hearted stare as he looked on over the two girls.

"You got a problem with me being here!?" Amui snapped.

Hitsugaya looked partly taken aback and Naori's face showed a slight hint of shock.

"Hold on…you can see me?" Hitsugaya asked. "Neither me or Naori can be seen by ordinary humans."

"The both of you are in front of me! I can see that!" Amui said and she protectively got in front of Haruka, who still looked frightened to death.

"Why did you come out?" Naori demanded and her face shown slight annoyance. "I warned you…"

"Naori, what do you mean by that?" Hitsugaya asked her.

"I had noticed she was eavesdropping in your previous conversation with Ayumishi." Naori reported. "I figured she noticed what you were going to do and I warned her to not interfere beforehand. Though it obviously seems she decided not to heed my warnings. Now look what she has gotten herself into."

"I don't care if I'm in trouble now! Just what were you going to do with Ayumishi-san!" Amui demanded. "Look at her! She's terrified!"

"Nothing like the Kikanshinki (memory replacer) can't fix." Hitsugaya pointed out, completely ignoring Amui.

"You're right…" Naori pondered on the thought and she slowly started reaching through her shinigami uniform. "Now I remember it was somewhere here…"

'_Damn!'_ Amui frantically thought. _'I don't know what the hell I'm doing, but I need to get Ayumishi-san out of here fast! She looks like she's going to have a heart attack at any minute!'_

"Hey! I think I found it!" Naori said and she pulled out a bunny-like lighter. Naori started walking towards Amui and a still tied up Haruka. "The one in the front, hold still." Naori commanded.

'_Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!!!!!!'_ Sweat rolled down Amui's head and she cautiously stepped back from Naori.

Suddenly, a tiny trickle of bright purple energy flowed out from behind Amui. Amui fearfully glanced behind her and she saw Haruka trying to free herself out off her bounded arms. More and more purple spiritual pressure flowed out of her as if she never closed an open faucet that was gushing out water. It poured out in great amounts and with every second, the spiritual pressure increased ten fold. It became too much for Amui to bear and she jumped away from Haruka's to avoid all that building pressure. Haruka tensed up her face and she started pulling her arms apart from the Bakudo.

The spiritual pressure of Haruka became so unbearable that Naori was already down on her knees. She bowed her head low and she gritted her teeth. _'It's too overwhelming!'_ She frantically thought. _'I can't even lift my head!!'_

Hitsugaya barely budged an inch, but he too felt this immense spiritual pressure. _'So this is what five captains combined feels like. But she's still immature and this pressure doesn't really feel much once it spreads over the area.'_ Hitsugaya glanced at his subordinate, who was still down on her knees. _'But Naori is a different story. She looks like she can't last for another second.'_

Hitsugaya was about to reach for his zanpaktou and strike, but stopped when he saw Amui walking towards Haruka. Amui seemed completely unfazed by all the spiritual pressure as if she was able to resist it.

"Stop it Ayumishi-san!!" Amui pleaded and she reached out for Haruka's hands. "Stop struggling and we'll try to free your arms!"

"AAAHH!!!!!!!!!!" Haruka screamed and with her last strength, she managed to break through the kido that had bound her arms together.

'_Impressive…'_ Hitsugaya thought and he sheathed his zanpaktou back. _'But all of her spiritual pressure is still coming out.'_

Suddenly, Amui felt a large energy force overwhelm her body and she felt like she couldn't separate from Haruka anymore. She could feel all the energy, that had built itself inside of Haruka, flow right into her. She felt her body bloat and she felt like she could explode at any minute if any more came in. But still, more and more energy came into her body and Amui had to pry her hands away from Haruka's clench fist to stop this pain.

Moments later, Amui managed to let go and all of the pain stopped. Amui felt a little dizzy and drained of all her energy. Haruka suddenly fell back unconscious and Amui fell down on her back as well. She glanced up at anyone that was before her and only caught a glimpse of silver white hair and teal eyes. Amui groaned in pain and she closed her eyes to sleep.

"It's all over Naori." Hitsugaya reassured her and he pulled her up from the ground. "They managed to stop it."

Naori still looked shaken up from the release of a sudden amount of large spiritual pressure. Her eyes were still wide dinner plates and her mouth still hung at an angle. "She…s-she was…too powerful…couldn't handle it…" She gasped out.

"How about I perform the memory replacement on these two?" Hitsugaya suggested and he took the bunny lighter out of Naori's hands. "You seem like you're not ready for what we're dealing with."

"What do you mean Hitsugaya-taicho?" Naori demanded as Hitsugaya clicked his finger against the switch of the lighter.

"What had just happened…" Hitsugaya said in a soft voice. "Ayumishi had only released one-eighth of all that spiritual pressure. One-eighth and that was enough to bring you down to your knees. You don't know what you're up against Naori."

"I…uh…" Naori started, but slowly let her face fell of the realization. It took a couple of moments for her to recollect herself. "But I see another problem to this." Naori pointed out.

"Yes, but it will have to be determined tomorrow. If they can remember us or not." Hitsugaya said, taking both of the unconscious girls in his arms. But only Amui seemingly had a grip on him as he leapt through the night.

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Would Amui or Haruka remember of this night? How will Hitsugaya and Naori deal with this? Find out when I have the time to actually think of it and not waste my time watching School Rumble!! Also review and I'll think faster, but I want to know how I'm doing in this story.


	6. Crossing Paths

_Very, very long chapter of Hitsugaya constantly getting into hot water with Amui. The guy just doesn't know how to keep a top secret a secret. It's still funny to see him like this. That with Amui's constant mood swings. On the other hand, you see Naori noticing the "sparks" between them. No pun intended._

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Crossing Paths

'_Here goes nothing.'_ Hitsugaya internally cheered himself on. Last night, he had had slight problems with Amui when he dropped her off. For some reason, she just wouldn't let go and he swore he heard her whimpering when he walked away on her. _'That's crazy!'_ Hitsugaya tried to convince himself. _'I only met the girl whenever she wants to butt into me head on. I barely even know her!'_ Hitsugaya slid open the classroom doors and made his way into classroom. There he was able to spot Amui sitting with her friends, chatting away as if nothing had happened last night. Hitsugaya smoothly made his way over to the group of girls.

"Hey." Hitsugaya unenthusiastically said.

"Hey." Amui nodded and replied back and went back to talking with her friends.

Hitsugaya suddenly felt so relieved that he was now safe again from her ever finding out. He even felt slightly happy that Amui had forgotten their encounter…until she took a double take.

"You again!!!?" Amui exclaimed so loud that everyone in class was turning heads to her.

"Shizumiya-san. He's Hitsugaya Toushirou. One of the new students at our school." One of Amui's friends said. She suddenly pulled Amui a little closer. "The cute one all of us were talking about." She whispered into Amui's ear.

'_Exactly what do they see in him?'_ Amui confusedly thought as Hitsugaya walked away to the door. _'Let's see. I guess he has the looks down and probably the brains… Athletics maybe… There's also that cute spiky white hair and that serious face makes him kind of cute. There's that cool attitude he usually leaves off… Wait!! Don't look at the positives!! Remember what he did to you last night!! Remember what he did to Ayumishi last night!!!'_

Amui stopped thinking once she noticed Hitsugaya gesturing her to follow him. Afterwards, he just slid out of the door and disappeared from sight. Feeling a little bit confused yet intrigued by him, Amui mindlessly followed after him. She couldn't help but hear a voice telling her to keep moving and keep following him. Amui didn't really think of much at that time but to just keep following after Hitsugaya, ignoring her inner pleas to remember last night's encounter. Suddenly, Amui found herself right on the school roof.

"Why'd you ask me out here?" Amui asked keeping her distance.

Hitsugaya didn't say anything and he continued looking out over the railing of the school. He kept looking out over the school fields. Amui suddenly felt the urge to walk around him to see what he was staring at. Suddenly, Hitsugaya disappeared from his spot and the next thing Amui knew was some kind of rabbit was being stuck in her face and a smoke screen afterwards. Hitsugaya sat there with Amui fast asleep in his arms and the Kikanshinki wrapped within his hands.

"Sorry." Hitsugaya mumbled as he cradled Ami from hitting the floor. "I just have to see it for myself."

Though only seconds later, Amui opened her eyes wide and she surprisingly jumped up from her sleeping position. Hitsugaya fell back shocked that a human like her was able to wake up so quickly after having her memory replaced. Scratch that. The correct term is 'thing'.

"What the hell was that for!!?" Amui snapped in fury. "What are you doing sticking a rabbit in my face?" He was not giving her a good time at night and now, he had to ruin her school life as well.

"Hold on. You can remember me?" Hitsugaya asked in shock, but his outer face showed nothing.

"Yes. It's not that hard to remember stuff that happened only ten seconds ago." Amui said with clear sarcasm in her voice. "What were you trying to do with me back then?"

"Strange. You didn't have much spiritual pressure before. Only enough to see me, but not enough to remember replaced memories. This is rather puzzling." Hitsugaya mumbled.

"Hello!!? Are you even listening to me!?" Amui loudly asked. "I'm asking questions here and I need answers!"

"I'm listening. Just don't feel like answering." Hitsugaya calmly snapped back. "You might want to go back to your classroom now or the teacher is going to catch you for being late."

"Aren't you in the same position?" Amui suspiciously eyed Hitsugaya as if she knew he was lying the entire time. His unfazed frozen face wasn't much of a shield for his emotions.

"Try me." Hitsugaya replied back in a semi-monotonous voice and right afterwards, the bell rang.

'_Shit!!!'_ Amui frantically began dashing for the door. "We'll settle this later!" She called back to Hitsugaya, who was standing still in his place on the roof. Amui jumped at least five staircases and trampled ten other people on her dash to her classroom. She whizzed past a group and managed to slam the door open…right into her teachers face.

"Shizumiya Amui. You're late." The teacher haughtily marked down in her notebook. "Go take your seat."

"What about Hitsugaya!!?" Amui frantically complained. "He was with me a couple of seconds ago!"

"Hitsugaya-kun was already in his seat before the bell rang." The teacher said.

"But-but" Amui just couldn't believe it. How could someone she was just talking to a couple of seconds ago run down a floor so fast! In fact, she had left the roof before him so how is it he beat her to the classroom.

"No buts, sit down." The teacher glared at Amui with irritation. "Unless you want detention this very minute."

"No ma'am." Amui quietly said and she hurried over to her seat. Only seconds later, a ruler slapped against her desk for sleeping. And after, a pencil was thrown across the room from somewhere and it smacked against Amui's head. Amui rubbed her head in pain and started to deviously think of ways to make Hitsugaya for this. One class had been dismissed; Amui was the first to make a quick grab for Hitsugaya.

"She's getting a little aggressive there." One girl whispered to another.

"Shizumiya-san eh? I think this might even be her first love! It's so cute!!" Another girl squealed in delight.

Naori blankly gazed on at the group of girls before her. She had no intentions to go latch on to her captain like some of the girls in her class had planned. Also, she found it to be more fun to just sit in her classroom and ease in on other people's conversation. She had already heard that there was going to be an emergency drill next week, but she had never heard news that included her captain and some other girl. "First love…" Naori whispered to herself and went back to her work.

Hitsugaya stopped running in his tracks and he released himself from Amui's grip. "Now what do you want?" He demanded, frowning at Amui who just shook him off.

"I did say we were going to settle this later." Amui snidely pointed out. "Ok. Who are you? And why were you trying to attack Ayumishi and I?"

"That's confidential." Hitsugaya replied as if he didn't care.

"Answer my questions!" Amui demanded and her voice gradually rose with each word.

"Whatever my purpose here doesn't concern you." Hitsugaya said with bluntness in his voice.

"What do you mean it doesn't concern me!? What you did to me last night concerns me. What happened last night concerns me. Even what you did on the roof concerns me." Amui hotly said.

"I say it doesn't concern you and I mean don't go sticking your nose into other people's businesses." Hitsugaya explained in a matter of fact fashion. "Why don't you go away? Your very presence here is enough to annoy me." His voice had a slight change, as his irritation grew larger.

"What the hell does that mean!?" Amui growled, her patience already lost.

Hitsugaya turned around and left, leaving Amui in a state of shock. "I mean…" Amui snapped out of her shock enough to concentrate on Hitsugaya. "I mean, stay away from me and don't interact with me anymore. Don't talk to me ever again. Got it?" He sounded so serious that Amui couldn't tell if he was joking anymore.

"Fine!" Ami haughtily turned away. "Don't blame me when we cross paths again!"

Hitsugaya just ignored her and continued his way away from Amui. Amui's frown remained when she separated from him. She was sure that they will never get along and she planned to not even try. She planned to never ever see him again just like he asked…

"Hitsugaya Toushirou and Shizumiya Amui. You two are in charge of today's and tomorrows homeroom chores."

'_The world hates me.'_ Amui groaned in her head.

"Hitsugaya-taicho. Does that mean you won't go back home?" Naori asked once the class was dismissed.

"No. It just means that I won't be home early. I'll still come home before nighttime." Hitsugaya explained. "What's the matter?"

"Yamamoto called me to let you know he wants to speak to you after school." Naori showed him the call on her flip phone.

"Seriously, how come he never calls me and calls you instead?" Hitsugaya asked, baffled at the nature between Naori and Yamamoto. Naori treated Yamamoto with higher respect just like every shinigami in Soul Society, except Yamamoto seems to favor her in some situations.

"You never seem to answer your phone." Naori pointed out and she gave a small chuckle afterwards. "That's what you get for always putting it on silent!"

"That's because Matsumoto keeps calling me in the middle of the night to complain about her paperwork!" Hitsugaya retorted.

"Well. I'll see you later! Make sure you come home to talk with Yamamoto." Naori waved good-bye and dashed out the door, almost bumping into Amui on her way out.

'_She seems different. Last night, she looked like she wanted to tear me to pieces.'_ Amui thought, confused on how Naori could switch personalities so quick. The thought was quickly erased when she saw Hitsugaya and the fact they were the only two people in the room. "Before you go saying anything, let me tell you it's not my fault." Amui said, glancing away. She flicked her long chestnut hair that clearly whipped Hitsugaya in the face.

"I know. It couldn't be helped." Hitsugaya calmly said, greatly shocking Amui.

"Wait! Are you telling me you understand?" Amui asked in amazement.

"It doesn't mean I'll treat you just as nice as before." Hitsugaya coldly replied back.

'_I was wrong. He's just as cold as ever.'_ Amui dismissed and she grabbed a nearby broom and started sweeping up the place. Classroom chores were pretty much simple and pretty straightforward. Sweep up the place, arrange the classroom to their proper position for the next day, wipe the board, water the plants, and leave. But the work was tedious and it took more than half an hour, half an hour of pure silence.

"So who was that girl you were talking to?" Amui asked, hoping to break the awkward silence. "And I'm not butting into your business so don't get so worked up about it."

Hitsugaya looked up at her from his work. "That girl was Naori Hibana. She's someone I know."

"Is she someone you know very, very well?"

Hitsugaya frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

Amui sighed, feeling he did not get it. "Do you…you know…like her? She was pretty happy when you were speaking with her. You two seemed like you tease each other a lot."

"It's nothing interesting. We're not close or anything like that. She's just accompanying me on my mission." Hitsugaya mumbled in a semi-soft voice.

'_Gotcha!'_ Amui victoriously grinned as Hitsugaya flinched from noticing his mistake. "Alright! I got you red-handed. What's this mission you're on?"

"I told you. It's confidential." Hitsugaya curtly said and turned away. "I already revealed too much. I'm leaving now."

"Hold on!" Amui grabbed the back of Hitsugaya's shirt, preventing him from exiting the door. "There are still chores that need to be done! And I'm not going to do them all by myself!!"

Hitsugaya gave his longest and iciest glare at the girl, but she seemed very unfazed by it. Amui continued to have a mischievous slash happy grin plastered on her face. Hitsugaya, unfortunately, had no choice but to reluctantly turn in. But in seconds, Hitsugaya quickly snatched the broom right out of Amui's hands as payback. Amui didn't even have enough time to react and she found herself chasing after Hitsugaya for the broom afterwards.

"Give it back! I need to sweep the place!!" Amui desperately yelled as she grabbed for the broom.

Hitsugaya suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and he immediately turned around. He turned just at the right time Amui was about to ram into him from chasing him. They were very, very close at the moment and neither of them breathed a single breath. There eyes were interlocked and their faces and lips were only mere millimeters away. It was as if either of them could lean forward at any moment and-luckily they didn't. Amui was able to pull away at the right time, her face partially flushing red from embarrassment.

"Why did you just stop?" She murmured, refusing to meet his eyes.

"To give you back your broom." Another smart answer from Hitsugaya and luckily, Amui was too embarrassed to attack him right at that second.

Amui glanced away to the windows and she noticed that there was a red and yellow shine against them. She sighed and sharply rubbed her face to get rid of the redness. "It's getting late. I really need to go." And with that Amui hurried out of the room.

'_Why? Why?'_ Uncomfortable thoughts ran through her head. Amui ran with her head forced down as she tried to get away as fast as possible from him. _'Why? Why? Why?'_

Hitsugaya glanced out of the classroom, looking on at Amui as she ran away. At first, he was visibly confused on why she would run out on him but decided it was for the best. He was a shinigami and she was a human. He should have never interacted with her in the first place.

'_Why? Why? Why?'_ Amui bolted through the school grounds and past the school gates. She swiveled right and felt her head bumping into a shoulder. She gazed up to see Hitsugaya looking down on her. _'Why do our paths have to cross?'_

"Why is it that every time I see you, something is bruised?" Hitsugaya humorlessly asked and helped Amui up from the floor.

"Why is it that every time I run off, you beat me to it?" Amui sarcastically answered in the same fashion. All the redness was already off her face just as fast as it came and she had her attitude back again. Amui shook off Hitsugaya's hand and she walked away. "See you tomorrow."

Amui walked on and on and on for a couple of blocks but she abruptly stopped since she had enough. "Why are you following me home?" She demanded and turned to the sidewalk adjacent to her.

Hitsugaya strolled on as if nothing weird or out of the ordinary had really happened. "This is my way home." He answered and continued to walk on.

'_The world hates me.'_ Both Hitsugaya and Amui thought as they walked on their usual paths home. Their awkward silence stayed awkward and silent and all that could be heard were the repeated steady footsteps. It wasn't till long Hitsugaya turned the corner and walked opposite of Amui.

Hitsugaya sighed of relief and he sped up his walking. He really couldn't stand that girl for another minute since her mood issues makes her happy on moment and explosive the next. In fact, Amui's constant mood swings were worse than Naori's personality problem. Hitsugaya just wanted to go home and sleep or paperwork if possible. But a nearby scream prevented him from doing just that.

'_What is it now?' _Hitsugaya snatched up his black phone and flipped it open. A pulsating dot blinked over and over again over a street just around the corner. Hitsugaya grabbed for his Gikongan dispenser and quickly got into his shinigami form. He flew for only a couple of seconds when he saw a rather large Hollow-scratch that-Menos rearing up for the attack. Hitsugaya smirked and it took only one swing of his zanpaktou to destroy it. Hitsugaya watched the Menos vanish into nothing and he sheathed his sword as he turned around to see whom he just saved. _'Great…her again.'_ Hitsugaya grimaced at the sight.

"What-What the…" Amui gasped from her spot from the floor. She just couldn't believe what she was seeing. Hitsugaya in the exact same clothes from the previous night! "So you finally decided to show yourself!"

'_Out of all the stupid things I've done…'_ Hitsugaya rubbed the back of his head and frowned at his current situation. Right now, he couldn't think of a good excuse to use.

"You can't cheat yourself out of this one!" Amui exclaimed and she quickly got up. "Now tell me everything! I'm not going to leave you alone until I know everything that is happening!"

"I'm just going to keep saying no." Hitsugaya snapped back and turned to leave. "You are already too involved right now."

"I don't care! This is too weird that it's getting too hard to ignore!" Amui stubbornly exclaimed and refused to move from her spot.

Hitsugaya sighed, knowing full well he was caught and there was no way out of this one. Also knowing Amui's persistent attitude, she was probably not going to leave him alone till she knows every single little thing. Hitsugaya had no choice. He would have to tell her everything…tomorrow.

"Let's get you home." Hitsugaya grabbed Amui's sleeve and practically dragged her down the street. "It's getting too late out."

"Did you not hear what I just said!?" Amui demanded and brushed off Hitsugaya's arm.

"I heard and I'll tell you everything. Just not right now." A now seemingly irritated Hitsugaya replied. "Tomorrow I'll tell you. Ok? Agree?"

Amui suspiciously eyed Hitsugaya. She was smart enough to know that by tomorrow, he'll think up some other lie to cover it all up. No. She wasn't going to let him get away with it again. "Promise?" Amui softly asked.

Hitsugaya nodded and swiftly flew back up. "Promise." And with that he flew off and did not bother to even look back.

'_Hitsugaya…'_ Amui stared up at the space Hitsugaya was just in. He had disappeared so fast that he managed to leave a pretty good after-image. _'You are so strange in so many ways… Is that even a positive?'_

* * *

Meanwhile, Naori peered on outside of her window of her bedroom. She and Hitsugaya lived in the same building as Orihime and she was nice enough to provide them with rooms. Hitsugaya lived in one room and Naori vice versa. It was pretty dark out and Naori could barely see anything outside. It was all just pitch black. The only traces of light she noticed were the lights coming from other homes. Naori crouched next to the entrance of her balcony. She tucked her head between her knees and she wrapped her arms around her folded up legs. Her eyes slowly began to close. The plasma TV, that was right across from her, flickered with static rising from the set.

'_It's the nighttime…'_ Naori thought. _'He never came back.' _

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Very cute chapter for Hitsugaya and Amui. Naori…not so much. I spent like three days to think and write this entire chapter and it's nine pages long!! Please review to see if this chapter's any good! I'll keep updating this story if I get a lot of good reviews!!


	7. Curiosity

_Has Amui gotten annoying lately? Demanding answers that sort of thing? If it's a yes, perfect!! That makes this chapter even easier to make up. Also, thanks to all those who have reviewed and I'll try to continue this!_

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Curiosity

'_I knew it! I knew he was going to chicken out of this.'_ Amui angrily thought. She impatiently tapped her pencil against her desk and twirled a lock of her long hair between her fingers. Seriously, how long is he going to keep her in the dark? With all the unnatural stuff that's been happening, Amui would not be able to ignore it and go on with her normal life. She had almost been killed twice for crying out loud!!

"Hitsugaya Toushirou." The teacher called and waited only a couple of minutes before marking him absent.

Amui felt a deep urge within herself to take Hitsugaya's words and shove it down his throat. They made a promise that he would tell her all about what is happening and he doesn't even bother to show up. By now, Hitsugaya would already have a well thought up story to cover it all up. Amui narrowed her eyes in fury and her fingers lingered around the edge of the pencil, preparing to snap it.

Suddenly, a wad of rolled up paper smacked Amui squarely in the head. Annoyed, Amui was about to throw it back when she noticed something written on it. Amui glanced around to see who threw it to her and took a double take to see if the teacher was looking. The coast was clear and Amui secretly opened the message out of sight.

**Meet me on the roof after class. Don't be late.**

Amui frowned and turned the message to the backside. It was empty. She turned it back to where the message was written where it had no signature. It seemed to be written in a neat lettering with even spaces and lines. Since she obviously knew all the boys in her class were messy writers, it had to be from a girl…but which one? Amui shrugged it off and put the little piece of paper away. She would have to find out later when she goes on the roof.

Once the bell rang to signal class was over, the first thing Amui did was rush over to the door before all the other students rampaged their way out. She did not want to get trampled on her way. Amui calmly walked up a couple flight of stairs leading to the roof and opened the door. She stuck her head out at the breezy atmosphere and glanced around to see if anyone was there. No one was.

'_Oh yeah…I'm so late.'_ Amui sarcastically thought and she walked up to the edge of the school roof.

She leaned over the railings and decided to look around to spare time. It wasn't long till she found herself staring up at the clouds. She observed how they just drifted by and floated up in the sky. How they would stay over her until they disappeared into the horizon. One cloud in particular managed to spark her interests. A strange cloud that was shaped almost like a snake. But that snake had the head of a dragon and powerful wings coming out of its sides. It kind of looked like a Chinese dragon from what she learned in history class.

"Enjoying the clouds?" Startled, Amui suddenly turned around to see Naori calmly sitting on top of the frame of the door. Naori had a seemingly straight face with only a dull stare in her eyes. Her voice sounded eerily monotonous yet a light tone as she spoke. "You know, I believe more clouds are going to appear tonight. Thunder and lightning included."

"Were you the one who sent this?" Amui lifted up the note. "Were you? Naori Hibana?"

Naori's bright golden eyes widened in pure surprise when she heard that. "How do you know my name? I don't believe I met you personally before now." Naori calmly demanded, trying her best to keep a light tune in her voice.

"I was with Hitsugaya yesterday. He told me about you." Amui explained.

"I see…" Naori mused on in wonder, but shook the thought away. "What did he say about me?"

"Uhh…" Amui nervously trailed on. How was she supposed to say that Hitsugaya didn't give a damn about Naori? And Naori seemed very interested on what Hitsugaya had to comment about herself. Amui couldn't break Naori's feelings. Even if they were buried deep under Naori's cold outer shell, she still has them like any other person. "Uh… He said you and him were working together." Amui managed to spit out.

"Oh…I see…" Naori felt her interest hit rock bottom. _'It seems like Hitsugaya is treating all of this like business as usual… Wait! That's his duty to treat this entire mission as serious as possible.'_

"So…why'd you call me out here?" Amui asked.

"Hitsugaya-taicho is absent today." Naori said.

'_What's with the honorifics? I thought Hitsugaya said they weren't close or anything.'_ Amui thought, but continued to listen to what Naori was saying.

"And since you were able to resist the memory replacement and you can see us when others can't, so I guess it's sort of ok to tell you about Hitsugaya-taicho and me." Naori said, almost wincing at the last part.

"Ok… Start from the beginning. What are you guys?" That was the first question to come out of her mouth.

"We are shinigami." Naori said and didn't say anything else after that.

'_She says it so vaguely that it's hard to get any information from her.'_ Amui thought in discontent. "Then what are you doing here in the living world? Wait! Don't tell me shinigami live amongst the humans!"

"Stupid girl." Naori sighed and jumped off from the frame she was sitting on. "Shinigami like Hitsugaya-taicho and I live with other departed souls. You know, up there." To justify her point and make Amui feel stupid, Naori pointed to the sky above her. "We are here because it's our duty to help souls pass on to the next life."

"Are you saying those monsters with holes in their chests are the souls?"

"Sort of. Those monsters are hollows. They are souls that have become evil and are unable to pass on. Shinigami destroy them in order to help them pass on. Other than that, we perform a soul burial on normal souls, which are called pluses and are completely harmless. This entire thing is suppose to be under keeps and goes almost completely unnoticed." Naori suddenly glared at Amui as she spoke. "Unless somebody meddles in."

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Amui demanded.

"Because the fact you know disturbs it." Naori replied back in a calm yet mocking fashion.

"Sorry if I disturbed the peace between you guys." Amui shrugged off. "Oh by the way, what is the peace between you guys?"

Naori paused for a while, trying to come up with an answer that won't spoil her mission. "He is my captain and I am his subordinate."

'_Again. Answer's too vague.'_ Amui thought. "Anyways…about that night a couple of days ago. What was that about?"

"Confidential."

"What about Haruka Ayumishi-san?"

"Confidential."

"What were you planning to do to her?"

"Confidential."

"Wait! I thought you said you'll tell me everything!" Amui argued back. She still haven't forgotten that fearful night in Miyuba Park.

"That's confidential. I can't tell you." Naori responded back. "If I were to tell you, I will be killed." _'By my own captain'_ She humorlessly added in.

"Grr…" Amui growled in extreme annoyance. She still haven't found what she needed and it seemed like neither Naori or Hitsugaya will tell her. "Fine! Don't tell me! I know what I needed to know." Angrily, Amui began to walk towards the door without saying good-bye.

"Then hear this." Naori said all of a sudden, stopping Amui in her tracks. "Don't get in our way anymore. You're a nuisance as it is."

"Wha-What!?" Amui gasped back.

"You know what you needed to know. Now don't involve yourself into our affairs. And I mean, don't ever talk or interact with Hitsugaya-taicho or me. It was never your business from the start."

"What about that night?" Amui argued back. She wasn't going to take this from her out of all people even if Naori had every right to.

"That night was a complete accident. It didn't even concern you." Naori crossly snapped back. "You just happened to be there and you mixed yourself up with what we were doing. Your willingness to find out about us and your tendency to think this entire problem concerns you is all your doing."

Amui's hazel eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open from shock. Looking back at all of her encounters with Hitsugaya, maybe Naori was right. Maybe she was an annoyance that was constantly butting herself into their business. She never meant to be a snoop or a busy body; she just wanted to see what was going on. Well, curiosity killed the cat and Amui silently walked away from Naori.

"If I don't see you or Hitsugaya anymore, my life will go back to normal." Amui silently asked.

Naori calmly looked on at the girl and didn't show any sign of understanding or responding. She stood there, looking at Amui, not even nodding her head or saying yes.

"I won't bother you guys anymore. You can go on with your work from now on." Amui said and she began to walk away. But she stopped between flights of stairs and looked up at Naori. "But I'm wondering, where is Hitsugaya right now? It's a personal thing."

Naori stared back for a while before closing her eyes and lifting up a finger in front of her. Seconds passed before she finally opened her eyes. "He's working." Naori answered.

"How would you know that?"

"I'm a shinigami. I would know that."

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When nighttime had come during that day, all Amui could do was collapse miserably into her bed. In the span of two days, two people had already told her off. Telling her she was being too nosy and to butt out of their businesses. Amui didn't even notice she was being annoying to them. She just wanted to find the answers to her questions. Just recognizing her actions from them two made guilt waver even closer to her heart.

Amui sighed and flipped over to her backside. She stared up at the ceiling and wondered what to do for the weekend. If she even said one word to either Hitsugaya or Naori, they would just wave her off like some kind of pest. She could hang around Miyuba Park for a while. Though it would be probably crowded with a bunch of people since it's going to be a sunny day tomorrow. Maybe she could go into the restaurants and cafes next to it…

Suddenly out of nowhere, a butterfly flew right by her. It was a strange butterfly indeed. It's wings were pitch black except for a couple of blue highlights around the edges. It fluttered around the room before landing right on Amui's forehead. Amui watched the wings open and close continuously before lifting her hand. She never minded bugs except this one got a little too close for comfort. Annoyed, Amui was about to slap it away when it suddenly flew away right before her hand even touched her forehead. Her forehead started throbbing in pain when her hand connected to her head.

'_What... The... Ribbon?'_ Amui's eyes widened in surprise when she saw a white ribbon being encased by her hand. It did not have a smooth silky feel like most ribbons and it felt like a surge of power being transferred from one end to another. Amui lifted the ribbon from her face to get an even better look. Suddenly, it was as if frames of pictures were flashing through her head. She could clearly see her own mom, downstairs, cooking dinner! Gasping of surprise, Amui suddenly released the ribbon and scrambled back against the wall.

'_What the…'_ Amui thought in wonder and watched the white ribbon waver in front of her. Suddenly, even more white ribbons began shooting up from the bed beneath her. It surrounded her, leaving no exits. When Amui got out of bed, it followed her around like some kind of clingy bug. Amui reached out and grabbed another floating ribbon. Another image floated into her head and this time, it showed one of her friends dining out.

'_Whoa!'_ Amui suddenly let go of the ribbon she was holding on. _'This is like stalking someone except without having to move!'_

Interested in more, Amui curiously grabbed another ribbon. This time, she saw one of her teachers playing video games. Another ribbon showed Haruka Ayumishi writing in some kind of notebook and then stashing it away in a pillowcase. It looks like she has some kind of a diary. Another white ribbon showed a boy getting into a gang fight and another showed some girl jogging in the middle of the night. Amui continued to go through each individual ribbon when she suddenly stumbled upon two different ribbons. Instead of being pure white like all the other ribbons, they were red, bloody red like the roses in arch of Miyuba Park.

'_Why are only these two red?'_ Amui thought and gently touched one of the two red ribbons. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, if a bunch of floating ribbons that let you stalk people is ordinary, and the red ribbons seemed to pose no harm. _'I wonder what these ones will show me…'_ Shrugging off all precaution, Amui grabbed for one of the red ribbons.

The memorable routine-like flashing of images rolled into her head once again, but this time it was stranger then usual. She saw Naori, leaning over the balcony, calmly punching on the keys of her bulky slide phone. Naori's dark blue shoulder-length hair wavered as a breeze flew by her and her golden eyes remained concentrated on the phone. She stopped for a while and stared up into the sky. It was as if she was trying to find something. Then suddenly, Naori turned her head and looked straight on to Amui!

'_Eeeeps!!! Did she see me!?' _Amui frantically released the red ribbon and threw it as far away from her as possible. _'If only I knew what shinigami's were capable of!! Then I wouldn't worry about her seeing me! Wait! Now I sound like a complete stalker!!'_

Amui stopped her frantic thinking when she suddenly noticed something about the red ribbon. Exactly, why was it that Naori's ribbon was red while all the others were white? Maybe the fact that she is a shinigami makes her ribbon red! That makes perfect sense since she's different from everyone else in the world. But that would mean that the other red ribbon belongs to…

'_Hitsugaya Toushirou…' _Amui started to mindlessly reach for the other red ribbon and it took all her strength to stop herself. _'Wait! I've already been told to not interact with shinigami any more. I don't want to be an annoyance to them any longer!'_ And with that, Amui moved her hand away from the red ribbon and she turned herself away to resist the temptation. She knew it was going to hurt, but curiosity killed the cat and she planned to not get pounded on any longer… But her hand still moved for the red ribbon.

As the images of Hitsugaya during the night flashed by her mind, Amui had only one thing to say. "Screw. You. Body."

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Anyways…I usually reply to reviews by email but since FF is as glitchy as usual, I'm going to reply to them here.

_**-Mistress Muguruma Miku-**__**: **__Thank you for always reviewing! Your reviews usually bring my spirit back up! I will keep up the good work and I'll try to update faster!!_

_**XxAlways-SmilingxX: **__Thank you for reviewing!! I'm like a big fan and reader of one of your stories!! I'm just happy that one of the people that I reviewed for reviewed back!!I will update soon!!_

_**MillieEllie**__**, hitsugayaXOX, Anonymous: **__Story is interesting yes! Thanks for the review anyways! Will update for you!!_

_Back to the main topic now. What is Amui going to do? Why and what was Naori typing into her phone? Find out when I have time to update and when you review!! _


	8. Another Night

_This chapter typically picks off from where Amui was last time except it starts from Hitsugaya. Amui just found out where Hitsugaya was and they have a brief chat in the park. I've also noticed the other OC, Naori, is not in much chapters so far. I'm going to bring her back into the story soon._

_So read and enjoy the chapter!_

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Another Night

His silver hair wavered through the breeze as he soared through the air. Hitsugaya had just finished today's work. For some odd reason, hollows were happily running amok in Karakura Town and Hitsugaya had to take off a day to dispose them. His entire body ached from having to baby sit hollows and he just wanted to go home and rest. Hitsugaya glanced at the ground below him and saw someone walking around a path. She didn't seem like a jogger since her hair was down and she wore boots, a skirt, and a coat. But what brought the most about that person was that she had chestnut colored hair that ran down to her waist. Suspicious, Hitsugaya landed right in front of that girl.

"What are you doing here? It's dangerous to be alone at night." Hitsugaya said to her.

Amui just blankly gazed at Hitsugaya as if she knew this was going to happen. "Um…" Amui mumbled so soft that he had to get closer to hear. "Can I talk to you?"

"Let me think…no." Hitsugaya immediately refused and turned to leave. He really didn't want to deal with her again. Maybe she's still mad that he stood her up on their promise, but he sent Naori in his place so everything's good. Besides, Naori should have already straightened out the questions.

Amui frowned at the silver haired boy. She reached out and grabbed onto the very sleeve of Hitsugaya's uniform. She pulled him further back to her so he couldn't move away. "I swear. This will only take like a second." Amui argued.

"Look. Naori should have made it clear for you so you wouldn't have any questions." Hitsugaya argued back and snatched back his sleeve. "Now if you don't mind, I have to leave."

"Wait!" Amui called out and she quickly ran after him. Unfortunately, Hitsugaya was walking away at an inhumanly pace that Amui had to sprint to catch up. "Wait, wait, wait! Hold on!"

Hitsugaya frowned at Amui and continued walking away, not even looking back to see if she caught up. They were already strolling past a pond and a bed of flowers. The over hanging lampposts shone only patches of the path they were walking on. Hitsugaya walked so fast that if he were under one patch of light, Amui would be at least one patch away. Amui never gave up and she kept running towards him, panting all along the way.

"Aren't you getting tired?" Hitsugaya asked back at the girl behind him.

Amui smile as ten drops of sweat rolled down her neck. "No…I'm…fine!!" She gasped out and kept running for him. "When…are…you…stop…ping?"

"Why don't you just go home?" Hitsugaya suggested and kept his steady walking pace. "It's the middle of the night, so just go home."

Amui stopped running and she collapsed on her knees, trying to catch a few breathers. She ducked her head down and just plainly stared at the ground. _'He's too friggin' fast!'_ Amui realized. _'How am I going to catch up to him?'_

"Are you okay?" A voice was heard over Amui's head. She lifted up her head to see Hitsugaya looking at her about a foot away. The lights from the lampposts shone onto his white snowy hair, casting a glare on Amui's face. Every little strand of hair was perfectly highlighted with only the shadow being his face. Hitsugaya knelt down to see why Amui was just blankly staring at him. "Hello? Are you all right? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Wow…" Amui breathed out. "Whether you're standing or sitting, your height doesn't change much."

A pulsing vein appeared on top of Hitsugaya's head and he haughtily stood to leave. "You know what, I'm leaving." And with that, Hitsugaya was already walking far away from Amui. His figure constantly disappearing and reappearing under patches of light.

Amui quickly snapped out of it and she scurried back up to catch him again. "Wait! Hold on!" She pleaded in a cry. "I really didn't mean that! It was just an observation! Honest! I swear I wasn't making fun of you!"

"Go home." Hitsugaya annoyingly called back to the girl without even looking back. _'This girl just never gives up!' _He thought to himself and continued to evade Amui.

Amui mumbled something under her breath and she got back up to sprint after Hitsugaya yet again. This time she ran even faster, more agile, quicker. Sweat gradually rolled down from her forehead and off to the edge of her head. Her long chestnut hair flew all the way back and snapped as the wind blew by. Her mouth and eyes ran super dry and she felt like a breathe of cold air had rushed right into them. Amui ran so, so fast that she was able to go right past Hitsugaya himself. When she passed right by him, Amui swiveled to the right and made herself a roadblock in Hitsugaya's path.

"Care to move?" Hitsugaya glared at Amui in the most death-like icy look he could come up with.

"No." Amui boldly replied.

Hitsugaya shrugged Amui off and simply walked around her. He was about to shunpo away when he had gotten at least a foot by her when suddenly, something tugged onto the collar of his haori. He felt himself being forcefully pulled back and his body being whipped forward with a fist still clutching onto his collar. He could clearly see the brown eyes of Amui as she daggered eyed at Hitsugaya. Their faces ended up only inches away from each other and not in a very good way.

"Don't make me have to use force to get you to listen." Amui growled at him. She could be mean and forceful if the situation called for it.

"Don't make me break your arms." Hitsugaya coldly replied backing the same manner.

"Don't even try to manhandle me." Amui managed to remark back, almost leaving Hitsugaya speechless.

Hitsugaya glared at the girl for the last time before pushing her away from him. "Fine…you win." He told Amui as he fixed up the messed clothing that Amui made. "Now, what do you want to complain to me about this time?"

Amui stared daggered eyed at Hitsugaya for the last time before she relaxed herself. "It's about your little subordinate, Naori Hibana. She said a couple of kind of terrible things that were troubling me."

"Like what?"

"Well…" Amui trailed off and she sat down on a nearby bench to try to recollect what had happened. "Well, she said that I should stay out of your Shinigami business and-"

"Naori really told you that?" Hitsugaya asked, interrupting Amui in mid-sentence.

"Yes." Amui replied with her interests going up a little.

"And here I thought Naori would be the perfect person to ward off annoying people like you." Hitsugaya smirked at Amui, who was slowly getting what he was saying. "I guess her other colder personality doesn't really scathe you at all."

"Wait!" Amui exclaimed in realization. "You mean you set me up!"

"Yes, what else." Hitsugaya replied. "If you haven't noticed yet, everything that Naori does in a mission are always under a direct order. Besides, a captain's presence in the world of the living means there is serious business that needs to be taken care of and I can't have a mere human butt in all of a sudden."

"Is that why humans are not allowed to interact with shinigami?" Amui asked.

"Likely." Hitsugaya responded. "There are exceptions, which are humans with high spiritual pressure and are able to see shinigami in their real form. You for example." Hitsugaya nodded at Amui.

"So I'm an exception, but why do you and Hibana-san keep warding me off like some pest?" Amui asked again.

"Because you are a pest from our point of view." Hitsugaya told her in pure bluntness. "From the very beginning, you have been meddling into every one of our affairs. Affairs that you were never a part of from the first place."

That's because…" Amui tried to say, but couldn't spit it out. Her face gradually fell back to the floor. She couldn't think of an answer for that one. They were right after all. She was just butting herself into their personal space. She couldn't figure out why she would do it, she just had a feeling that she should. Amui thought for a while and then she answered in the most rational way possible. "Because all of your affairs involve Ayumishi-san and she is my friend. Which is why…why I feel I need to meddle in. To protect her."

"Is that it?" Hitsugaya asked.

Amui nodded to her partial lie and she still kept her head down. What she had just said was pretty much not the real reason she would meddle, but a good logical one. It was also her second reason so it was also the truth.

Hitsugaya continued to observe the girl, trying to catch if she was lying. Amui clearly showed no signs of deceit to him. Hitsugaya sighed and lifted up the girls face with his fingertips lifting up her chin. "So you're getting in our way because you feel the need to protect your friend? I assure you, we will do nothing to harm her so you don't need to worry. Okay?"

Amui looked up and just stared at the shining teal eyes of him. Eyes that showed clear honesty and no guilt. Glistening eyes that sparkle at every angle. Deep eyes that made Amui feel her heart was slowly sinking into a dark pit. "You won't hurt her." Amui finalized and Hitsugaya nodded. "Then I guess I should get out of your hair now and let you guys get back to work." Amui was about to stand up from the bench and walk away when something grabbed her sleeve.

"Wait a minute!" Hitsugaya gripped onto her sleeve and he slightly nudged for her to sit back down again. Confused, Amui did as told and she let Hitsugaya start explaining. "You say you are Ayumishi's friend. Correct?"

"Yes." Amui answered, still visibly confused.

"Than maybe you are not much of an unwanted pest." Hitsugaya mused on. "I was wondering if you could tell me any background information about her."

"Why do you need to know that?"

"Confidential." Hitsugaya bluntly answered again. "This is the only time where I don't have to criticize you for being an unwanted annoying idiot, so are you going to help me or not?"

Amui thought about it for a while. She didn't feel sure about Hitsugaya's proposition, that it maybe had another loop she missed. She felt she was going to end up in a bad situation because of this in time to come. But if they were to spend time together, she would eventually get that _confidential_ information running out of his mouth. Maybe that could work. "You swear Ayumishi is not going to get hurt in what you're doing?" Hitsugaya nodded. "Fine, I'll help you Hitsugaya."

Hitsugaya suddenly glared at the girl with his infamous icy glare. Amui felt a couple degrees had suddenly been dropped and found herself shivering. "Didn't Naori tell you about my identity?" Hitsugaya asked in an irritated tone.

"No, not really." Amui answered. "She just said that you two were shinigami and that's pretty much it."

"Well…" Hitsugaya recollected himself. "I am the Tenth Division Captain, Hitsugaya Toushirou. I am one of the highest-ranking officers in Gotei 13 and a respected position of authority. Now that you know my true identity, you are to refer to me as "Captain Hitsugaya" and not simply by my name."

"Oh! You mean that "-taicho" honorific that I have to say like Hibana-san." Amui pointed out. "Since you asked, I guess I'll call you…Hitsugaya-kun!!"

"That's not the point." Hitsugaya grumbled.

"I'm sorry Hitsugaya-kun, but I don't work under you so I'm excused from calling you a captain." Amui teased on. "Besides, you're on the same boat. You never really called me by my name as far as I can remember."

"I wasn't even associated with you till now." Hitsugaya pointed out. "And it's Captain Hitsugaya to you, Shizumiya!"

Amui gasped and she immediately lost her teasing façade. "What did you just call me?"

"I called you by your name." Hitsugaya simply said. "What's so important about it?" He seemed completely oblivious to the fact of what a name change like that meant.

"Oh…it's nothing." Amui murmured out in disappointment. After a while, she turned back to Hitsugaya who was standing just opposite of her. "Hey…do you know…well…what's so special about Hibana-san?"

"You mean Naori?" Hitsugaya asked back.

"Yeah her. You refer to everyone else by his or her last name, but you use Hibana-san's first name whenever you're talking about her." Amui pointed out.

"That's simply because Naori insists for everyone to use her first name." Hitsugaya said in a long sigh. "She hates that her last name makes her look soft. I used to call her Hibana when she came into my division and she forced me to call her by her first name."

"I wonder how she did that…" Amui mused on in deep thought. "You don't look like someone who can be pushed around so easily."

"We had a bet. She won. I don't want to talk about it." Hitsugaya groaned as he reminisced that day when he was forced to call Naori by her first name. It was not a pretty picture to remember.

Amui thought about it for a while. Naori really just forced her captain to call her by her given name and it was not because of the other reason… Maybe that was proof enough that they weren't anything special together… Just maybe… _'Wait! Why am I thinking about that?'_ Amui suddenly thought and she felt blush rise to her face._ 'Why do I care if Hibana-san and Hitsugaya-kun are together!?'_

"Shizumiya!!" A voice barked out, immediately waking up Amui from her daze. Shocked, Amui frantically looked around to see who had just called out her name. Luckily, it was just Hitsugaya with his sword at her face! His eyes and entire face remained calm even though his position absolutely did not look right.

"Whoa!! What are you doing?" Amui exclaimed out and she pushed away the weapon from her face.

"Saving you." Hitsugaya grumbled at her and placed the sword back onto his back. "If you were to lean any further, this would have scratched your cheek." And with that, Hitsugaya threw a bloody red rose at Amui.

Amui nimbly caught the rose with only two fingers of her hand. She studied the little flower. It didn't look very dangerous. Lush bloody red petals that have stretched out when the flower bloomed. A dark deadly center right in the middle of the flower. She peered down at the stem and there was one of the largest thorns she ever saw. Amui didn't even realize her face was only a couple of centimeters away from that. Wait! Where did this rose even come from anyways? Amui peered up from her bench and there, she spotted a familiar arch of bloody red roses.

'_Damn it!'_ Amui thought and she scrambled to get out of that bench. _'We're in lovebird zone!'_ Amui ran up to Hitsugaya and grabbed his sleeve and started to lead him away from the area. "Let's go!" Amui hastily said.

"Hold on Shizumiya." Hitsugaya said and he swatted away her hand. He started to move even closer to the bench.

"Look! I don't like this place, so can we leave!?" Amui begged, backing away from the area. "Please, can we leave Hitsugaya-kun?"

"No and that's final." Hitsugaya barked back at her and bent down at where the bench was. He peered at the ground in front of the bench and placed his hand on the ground as well. Amui just continued to observe him with interest, wondering just what the hell he was doing? She made no motion or attempt to stop him. Hitsugaya brushed a pack of dirt away and he squinted down to try to see what he had uncovered.

"What are you doing Hitsugaya-kun?" Amui cautiously asked and she inched a little closer to him.

"What do you know about this area here?" Hitsugaya asked back and he glanced at Amui with a slight glare. But maybe that was because his eyes seemed to always be shaped into a glare.

"That." Amui scoffed and she turned away from the place. "That's a lover's area. Only couples ever go there but nobody does since it's always dark and creepy."

"Do you know anything else about it?"

"For all I know, that thing's been there ever since I was a kid." Amui replied. "I remember there was a legend with it but nobody remembers the legend. All they know is that couples only go in there."

Hitsugaya stared at her, thinking maybe there were more. But Amui looked as if she could care less about the couple's only place. "Shizumiya." Hitsugaya asked and motioned the girl to come forward. "Can you tell me what this plaque says?"

"Huh?" Amui ran up next to Hitsugaya and knelt beside him as well. She squinted her eyes at the plaque since Dark Haven's always dark. "I don't know…I never knew this plaque was here." She squinted even more, trying to make out what the plaque said. All she could see was:

**In Memory Of *****

****** love lies **********  
Where ****enco*******s ********  
******** the***********som****

"Yeah…you think I can read it when half of it is covered in crap?" Amui sarcastically replied. "I guess somebody built it for somebody else."

Hitsugaya continued to analyze the plaque that he had just uncovered. It was small and around the size of a standard holiday card. The thing had rusted up into a shade of disgusting gold. Most of the words on the plaque were blocked out by huge chunks of dirt, moss, and mold. The plaque didn't look at all flattering, yet it fitted with the dark dense background of the scenery. Hitsugaya shook off the plaque from his head. It didn't look at all mysterious or suspicious. Creepy yes, but unimportant. Hitsugaya stood up and started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Amui asked.

"Home." Another short and smart answer from Hitsugaya. "You should go home too or do you want to stay here a little longer?"

'_What!! Just what is he thinking?'_ Amui thought in plain shock. _'Me and him in Dark Haven! No thank you!! We're not even a couple!'_ And with that, Amui quickly rushed over to Hitsugaya's side.

"Are you planning to hang on to me till I get home?" Hitsugaya asked with clear irritation in his voice. He slightly glared at Amui with his icy eyes shining with a sparkling ocean. Though his icy glare seemed to be nothing to Amui.

"Yes, I'm training to be a pedophile when I grow up." Amui sarcastically remarked back at him and Hitsugaya's glare at her intensified. "Did you forget? We live in the same neighborhood."

"Then, don't walk so close to me." Hitsugaya shot back and started to walk even faster.

Amui shot another annoyed face back at the boy in front of her and she sped up to keep up with him. She didn't know how the two of them could get along if they're constantly at each other's neck. Hitsugaya would always distance himself away from Amui whenever she got to close and Amui admitted herself that her annoying personality was also a cause. They silently walked side by side, about a good five feet away, through the park and out back to their neighborhood. They continued to walk together a couple of blocks until Amui crossed the street to get back to her home.

"Good bye Hitsugaya-kun!" Amui waved back at him.

"I'm a captain so address me correctly." Hitsugaya called back to her.

"Whatever!!"

He already knew it would be fruitless. She was just as ignorant as any other human girl. Hitsugaya walked back a couple of yards on his street and went into the building where he and Naori were staying. It was moderately big, not that fancy and not that much in the poor section. The building was shared with Orihime and a bunch of other people already living there. Luckily, he and Naori were able to get two available rooms for the both of them.

Before heading into his own place, Hitsugaya first stopped by Naori's apartment. He needed to talk to her about something. Hitsugaya nudged the doorknob and realized it was unlocked. He slipped in and looked around to see if he could find her. The place was super neat and clean as it can possible be. Yet, there wasn't a sign of Naori anywhere. She wasn't in her room, the kitchen, or the den. Hitsugaya walked into her room and glanced in the bathroom. No sign of her there as well. Suddenly, a strike of lightening could be heard outside. Hitsugaya walked over to the balcony door and there, he spotted Naori leaning out over the railings.

"What are you doing?" Hitsugaya asked in concern. "You shouldn't be out in the open during a lightening storm."

Naori blankly stared up at the sky. It was murky and occasionally shined when lightening struck. The dark clouds showed only shades of black and gray. There were no signs of a moon above those very clouds. The clouds occasionally rolled with thunder and bright flashes of lightening usually struck down somewhere in the distance. Naori sighed and turned back to face Hitsugaya just as another lightening bolt shot down behind her.

"You really shouldn't worry about me in a lightening storm." Naori lightly replied back to Hitsugaya. "Remember?"

"Oh, right." Hitsugaya said once the gears in his head clicked. He had almost forgotten about Naori's abilities as a shinigami. Her zanpaktou enabled her to control electricity so lightening wouldn't affect her in any way. Pushing away the realization, Hitsugaya motioned for Naori to come in.

"And what do you want this time? Aren't I doing my job correctly?" Naori questioned him as she went into her room. She plopped herself onto her bed while Hitsugaya remained standing.

Hitsugaya's face stayed straight, a sure sign he was very serious. "You're doing fine." Hitsugaya responded. "Except, now I want you to completely focus only on our target. Haruka Ayumishi."

"What about the other girl? Amui Shizumiya?" Naori asked. "Did she agree to stay out of the way already?"

"No." Hitsugaya admitted. "I'll deal with her myself. You just concentrate on Ayumishi and leave Shizumiya to me."

Naori suspiciously eyed her captain. She didn't feel sure if his plan was going to work. But then again, he was her captain and she was supposed to follow orders since she was only a fifth seat. "Ok Hitsugaya-taicho." Naori quietly said with doubt clearly in her voice. "I will only focus on the target and I'll leave the other one at your hands."

Hitsugaya nodded and he began to walk out of Naori's apartment. But suddenly, he stopped in mid-step out of the entrance door. "One more thing." Hitsugaya said and Naori quickly rose up to hear what he had to say. "Next time, follow only the orders I give you and don't do anything rash on your own anymore."

_

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If you don't know what Hitsugaya meant, he means that when Naori was telling off Amui, she actually did that on her own. She really wasn't under any orders from Hitsugaya to tell Amui to stay out of the way. Hitsugaya actually made that part up. Why? I can't say…yet…

_Review please!!!!!!!!_


	9. Spending The Weekend

_Err...not really much to say in this chapter. I got a surge of reviews after my last one and I'm still updating! Thanks for all that have reviewed! Enjoy this chapter!_

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Spending The Weekend

A small shimmer of light swept through the curtains on the window and shone on his tired closed eyes. Hitsugaya slept on his stomach as he overslept that day with his face buried into his big pillow. His blanket was partially covering him from the bottom of his back down, leaving his entire back bare. It was sizzling hot in the weekend; so Hitsugaya didn't even bother to wear a t-shirt to sleep much less cover himself up. He was planning to sleep till the middle of the afternoon…until his cell suddenly rang. Tired, Hitsugaya slammed his hand on the little side table where his cell sat.

"Hello? Who's this?" Hitsugaya groggily asked into the cell.

"Hey Hitsugaya-kun! It's me, Amui Shizumiya." A familiar voice sounded through the earpiece.

"My title is Captain Hitsugaya." Hitsugaya reminded her again as if this was becoming a daily routine.

"Yeah whatever. So Hitsugaya-kun, are you busy today?" Amui's voice was getting more and more annoying by the minute according to Hitsugaya.

"Let's see. I'm a shinigami whose daily job is to help souls pass on to the next world. I don't know…maybe?" Hitsugaya sarcastically answered.

"Well, take a day off or something." Amui sounded very impatient at the moment. "Get Hibana-san to fill in for you or something. That is…if you want me to help you with your case with Ayumishi-san?"

"Fine." Hitsugaya unwillingly agreed.

"Great! I'll come over to your place then!" Amui cheerfully said.

"Wait! What?" Hitsugaya couldn't say much afterwards since Amui already clicked off.

Hitsugaya placed his cell back onto his bedside table and he slammed himself back into bed. For only a few moments, Hitsugaya just stayed in bed and stared up at the blank ceiling. He wasn't really thinking hard nor was he musing on something. He was just confused and wondering why Amui would suddenly be so needy for him to be with her. He guess he'll find out once he was there with her. Still tired, Hitsugaya closed his eyes again and tried to doze off back to sleep.

"Hitsugaya-taicho?" Another familiar, yet softer voice asked, waking him up once again.

Hitsugaya opened his eyes to see his little fifth seat looking down on him. Naori's pale yet blushing face followed with dripping wet blue hair and a towel on her head pretty much meant she was just out of the shower. Naori's amber eyes shone like the sunlight outside as she glanced over at the clock.

"Hitsugaya-taicho…did you know it's one already?" Naori asked in a teasing manner.

"Yeah and here you are, still in your sleepwear." Hitsugaya remarked back and glanced at Naori's black baby doll top and black shorts.

Naori frowned at the remark and she helped her captain up and out of bed. She heard him mutter about going to the bathroom to fix something up and he had another dumb appointment. Naori silently watched him go to the bathroom before picking herself up and leaving his apartment to go back to hers. She reached out for the doorknob and she pushed herself through…to find Amui standing in Hitsugaya's living room, shocked to find Naori still in her sleepwear and coming out of Hitsugaya's bedroom…

"Oh my god!! Don't tell me-"

"Oh…it's you." Naori said with no hint of surprise and observed the completely shocked girl. _'Let's see… Girl is wearing pink and red colored spaghetti strap mini dress with thigh high white socks and red shoes and she's carrying a tote bag. And captain is spending more than two minutes in the bathroom…'_ Naori snapped her fingers once the answer hit her. "You two must be on a date!"

"What?" Amui gasped and a hint of blush rose to her face. "How did you just figure that out? Hitsugaya-kun didn't say he'd tell anyone!"

Naori shrugged and she started walking towards Amui. She could feel Amui's nervous aura coming out of her like waves of radiation. Naori could see she was literally shaking as Naori walked right past her and out the door.

"Wait! Aren't you going-"

Naori snorted at Amui and she faced her with a super straight face that she only uses when she's working in a mission. "I've been specifically ordered to not interfere with whatever you're doing or involved with. So you can enjoy your date with my captain." Naori said in one breath and she quickly left Amui standing there. Not before uttering out, "Until otherwise…" before she left.

'_What is she talking about?' _Amui stared confused at the exiting girl until the sound of a door opening drove her attention away.

"What are you doing here?" An annoyed voice belonging to Hitsugaya asked. He came out of his room wearing clothes that made him look like he had not just come out of bed. Though dark jeans, a gray shirt with funky designs, and a black jacket pretty much said otherwise…especially when compared to what Amui's wearing.

"I did say I was coming over to your place." Amui replied back as she gazed around in the apartment she was in. "Nice place you got… Does Hibana-san live with you?"

"No, she's my next door neighbor." Hitsugaya answered, settling down Amui's worries.

"Oh…" Amui sighed in relief. "It's just that-"

"You were coming into my place and you happened to bump into Naori while she was exiting my bedroom." Hitsugaya finished for her and began to walk out the front door. "She came in to wake me up because I overslept today. She just got out of bed as well when she came in. Nothing happened between us so you don't need to know. Are you coming?"

Amui quickly snapped out of the shock and relief and she quickly followed after Hitsugaya. He was already halfway down the hall and he didn't even look back to see if Amui was following him. Amui had to bolt a couple of yards to get to him and dodge a passing rock projectile.

"Why did you just kick that rock?" Amui asked once she caught up.

"I'm just making sure you were coming. You were the one who asked me to come." Hitsugaya nonchalantly replied and tossed another softball sized pebble out to the side where it hit the streets below. He really couldn't tell her that he was actually aiming at Naori's door for eavesdropping on them.

"Where do you want to go?" Amui asked him.

"I don't care, but this is not a date." Hitsugaya curtly answered.

"I know, I know. You don't have to whine about it." Amui remarked just as annoyed as he was. "But I rather not just stand here and talk. You want to walk around or something?"

"Whatever…"

"Fine! Be stubborn for all I care! We'll go where I go then!" Amui replied and stuck her tongue out at him.

Hitsugaya grumbled something under his breath and he still followed after Amui. She brought him around the park and up to the shopping district. She often tried to start conversations with him, but Hitsugaya would quickly rebuff them or answer them in very vague little sentences. Then, Amui would be a little discouraged and sometimes she would throw a fit over it like making Hitsugaya buy her something. Hitsugaya would sometimes throw an insult or two and still do her bidding.

Sometimes people, who were passing by, would glance and wonder how two very different people could end up together. If Amui had heard them talking, she would shake her head and try to convince them they were not on a date and not a couple. If Hitsugaya heard them, he shot a silent insult at Amui causing her to start arguing with him and that would satisfy the audience that they were not a couple.

Amui never really got much insight about Hitsugaya in general. She already shared everything she knew about Haruka Ayumishi. She already told Hitsugaya about her school life, social life, family, friends, and any mysterious things that she does. Hitsugaya looked extremely interested when Amui informed him of Haruka and her mysterious night.

"She was standing over that bench in Dark Haven for who knows how long. I know that since I can see it from my window. She just stood there and stared at the bench without even moving a single inch." Amui coolly said while she took a sip from her latte. They were eating at a nearby café in the shopping district. "I went to bed while she was still there and when I woke up the next morning, she was gone. After that, you guys came over here to the world of the living."

"Interesting." Hitsugaya mused on.

"Why do you want to know so much of Haruka?" Amui asked while twirling the straw in her latte.

"Confidential."

"Did you come here to the world of the living before?" Amui kept barraging him with questions.

"Yes, several times but I've already erased the memories of those who've met me." Hitsugaya answered. "And those who still remember me are allies and not a threat."

"What about me?"

"I don't know…" Hitsugaya replied, staring straight on into the brown eyes of Amui making her slightly uncomfortable. "You're those special cases."

"Wow, I'm flattered." Amui sarcastically remarked and sipped some more of her latte. "Hey…what do you do on your days off anyway?"

"And why do I have to share my personal life with you?" Hitsugaya confidently smirked and crossed his arms. "Back in Soul Society, I have my friends and it's the same here."

"You mean Hibana-san right?" Amui asked again, hitting the spot right there. Hitsugaya didn't seem to want to reveal much about himself and his friends and acquaintances. But whenever it was about Naori, he would tell Amui anything about her. She even wondered if he was noticing the habit.

"She's more of a subordinate." Hitsugaya immediately said.

"I know, but why do you refer to her on a first name basis?" Amui grinned in a mischievous manner.

"I already told you I'm not going to tell." Hitsugaya said.

"Come on! It can't be that bad! The bet." Amui coaxed him in a sickly sweet voice. "Don't worry! I won't tell anyone!"

"No." Hitsugaya stood to leave Amui still sitting there.

"Hey! Don't just leave a girl by herself!" Amui cried out and ran after him. She had already paid so everything was ok with them eating a little and running off. When Amui caught up, she grabbed him in the arm and made Hitsugaya stop walking for a while. "You know! You're like my father in so many ways." Amui remarked.

"And what makes me so similar to your father?" Hitsugaya asked and interestingly, he didn't shove off Amui like usual.

"You're both very serious for no reason, you both are even more serious when it comes to work. And both of you are also super grumpy when off work. And the both of you have white hair." The last comment pissed Hitsugaya off to no extent. "But you both have the same compassionate nature that is just buried under that grumpy face…but that's all I know of him. He died when I was little." Amui softly said and she smiled back up to Hitsugaya.

Hitsugaya silently stared at the girl who was smiling at him. She had a sparkle in her eyes and her smile was wide and ecstatic. She looked so innocent and gentle unlike her usual brash self. She even kind of resembled those girls Hitsugaya would spot on the covers of magazines. Strands of her long chestnut hair had fallen down to her eyes and Amui didn't even seem to notice until Hitsugaya moved them out of the way. Soon she found herself blushing to no limit and Amui quickly pushed herself away from him.

"Um…I…" Amui nervously stammered out and tried to cover up her red face.

"Shizumiya…" Hitsugaya called out for her.

Surprised, Amui was able to wipe off the blush off to face him again. She saw Hitsugaya giving her one of those serious looks, but it seemed to have softened up a little. Hitsugaya shoved his hand into the pocket of his jacket and he rubbed the back of his head with the other one.

"The reason…" Hitsugaya softly said. "The reason I call Naori by her first name is…"

Amui stared into those icy blue eyes of his and realized it was the truth he was talking about. Even though he refused to answer the bet, his answer to her question was enough. She smiled back and replied in a gentler voice, "Thank you for telling me that."

* * *

Meanwhile, after Hitsugaya had kicked a rock at her front door, Naori fell back and landed on her butt in a thud. She grimaced from the pain and tried to get up from the floor. It was hard at first since her tight skinny jeans were pretty much limiting her ability to move. Naori straightened out her golden top and placed on some yellow sandals for her day out. She never really was the type to stay at home like her captain, but she didn't plan out anything for today… Maybe she'll do her job and track down Haruka.

Naori glanced out her apartment window and spotted said girl walking down her street. _'How convenient! Less work for me!'_ Naori happily thought and rushed out the door to follow after her.

Haruka didn't even notice that someone was following her as she was walking around. Naori was careful to not be spotted and she made sure to use every blind spot there was. If Haruka were to find out that she was following her, the next word Naori was going to hear out of her mouth would be "Stalker!!!!" Luckily, Haruka couldn't see her at all! Though Haruka seemed to be heading in a very strange destination. Girls her age would spend their time shopping and go to the place where all the clothes are. Haruka was heading to wear all the libraries and books are!

'_She's such a strange girl!'_ Naori thought as she watched Haruka about to cross the street to a library. Though she was crossing right at the time when the lights turned green! _'The idiot!'_ Naori panicked and she ran up and pulled Haruka right out of harms way.

Haruka stumbled back and fell down into Naori's arms. Her bag fell off and all the contents were scattered on the street like dirt on a clean floor. Haruka was a little dazed and she seemed to be a little dizzy as well when she got up from Naori.

"Are you ok?" Naori asked in concern.

"Oh! Don't worry! I'm fine!" Haruka said in giggles. "Thank you for pulling me out there! I so didn't notice that cars were coming!"

'Weirdo…'

"Anyways…do I know you? You seem…familiar…" Haruka said as she observed Naori from top to bottom.

"Hold on!" Naori exclaimed and pointed to herself. "You don't remember me?"

"Hm…" Haruka hummed out and she placed a finger on her chin to try and jog her memories. Afterwards, she shrugged. "Nope! I don't think I've met you before! Hi! I'm Haruka Ayumishi!"

"What were you doing two nights ago?" Naori demanded with no hesitation.

"Hm…I think I was watching TV about a puppy dog show and I tried to pull an all nighter from the movie marathon that night! Too bad I fell asleep on the second one…" Haruka said in great disappointment on the last part.

'_I see her subconscious mind is not as dumb as her conscious one…'_ Naori couldn't help but think. _'But it seems the memory replacement was successful on her. That is strange… How is that the container for the spiritual pressure of five captains combined would not be able to resist a memory replacement? How is it that someone else could? The situation is too strange…'_

"Hey! Why don't you come in?" Haruka called out and dragged Naori right into the library. "This is where I work!" She proudly exclaimed and presented the entire library, but everyone shushed her to be quiet.

"Work? It's the weekend." Naori skeptically said, but Haruka ignored her the entire way.

"Why don't you enjoy yourself in books while I get to work?" Haruka suggested and she left Naori standing there.

A sweat drop appeared on Naori's head. What was she going to do in a library!? She really only liked reading light novels and not those textbook kinds of books. Those were left for Hinamori to read to her during work or any free time. Naori glanced around in the library. Shelves and shelves of big books that would look like it would take days to finish. Some were untouched for so long that a centimeter of dust had gathered on top. Naori wandered around the entire library and through its entire collection of boring books. Yes, the entire three floors of books!

Naori could've left the library and go to a more interesting place for her weekend. But that would disrupt her mission and she had no one to spend the day with so she was pretty much stuck in the library. _'Damn that captain and his stupid date!'_ She was thinking this the entire time she was there.

Naori grazed her pointer finger on the bindings of the books that stuck out of the shelves. She made a neat clean trail in the dust and that left a lot of gunk on her fingers that she needed to clean off. Naori mindlessly paced around in the library, thinking a bunch of curse words to her captain, with her fingers still trailing the books. Occasionally, she would stop and read some manga. But she would easily get bored and do the same thing over again to the books. Eventually, Naori came upon a book when her finger knocked it out of the shelf. It had a dark blue cover and gold lettering. The book seemed old since the cover was near to coming off and the pages were practically falling out. The book also was the size of a standard school textbook and it weighed a ton! Frowning, Naori was about to place the book back in the shelves when she noticed the words that the gold title formed.

"Memories of Miyuba", Naori read out loud and a couple people shushed her. Naori frowned at the book, thinking the name seemed too familiar and strange. Naori opened up to the first page and started reading the context…in her mind this time. _'When I was little, the first time I noticed her was when she was swinging on the set of swings in the playground. A single set with only one swing. One specifically reserved for her. She was a beautiful goddess with long raven black hair and sparkling amethyst eyes that put the shimmering rain to shame. Though no one was there to push her. I fought brave and hard with myself to build up the confidence to go over to that swing and push her, but-Wait!!! This is just a stupid love story the size of a textbook!'_ Disgusted, Naori slammed the book back into the shelf and walked away.

"Ooh!! I see you like this one! It's one of my favorites!" Naori heard a giddy voice behind her and she turned around to see Haruka holding up the same book in her hands. She sighed and had that sparkling face for romance. "It's so long, yet so beautiful! A wonderful tale chronicling the life of a hopeless romantic and his affection!"

"Excuse me…Ayumishi-san…" Naori said and pointed at the book. "Is that fiction or non-fiction?"

"Why, it's an autobiography! Of course it's non-fiction!" Haruka said in a giggle and slapped the book back into Naori's arms. "Have fun reading!"

"W-What!?" Naori stammered out and glanced back at the heavy book in her arms. It was getting heavier and heavier by the passing second. Naori stared back at the golden title and wondered what seemed so off about the book. Shrugging her worries away, she sat down on a nearby chair and opened up to the first page again. _'When I was little…'_

_

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_

Well, I'll end it there right in the middle of the date. I'm finally bringing Naori back in the story and I needed Haruka's stupidness to help move it along better. Even when I said her part was done. Anyways, the next chapter picks up during the date and I'm bored, so I decided to provide a little preview: Hitsugaya and Amui will soon have a stalker on their date...

_Review for the next chapter!!!!!!!_


	10. Stalking

_I did say in the previous chapter that Hitsugaya and Amui are going to get a stalker during their supposed date. Maybe the title should pretty much sum it up. Anyways, I'm like never going to get any reviews…sad face…but that doesn't stop me from updating! I have this entire thing all planned out in my head!!_

_Also, I wonder which OC are people rooting for to end up with our little Shiro-chan? I see many really like Naori! That's good! It's a shame this chapter might slightly change your mind… _

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Stalking

"Hey Hitsugaya-kun? Can we visit the library for a bit?" Amui asked and proceeded to drag him to the library in front of them. Her hand on his hand and neither of them noticing at all. Though the people around pretty much noticed.

"It's the weekend. What would you want to do in a library?" Hitsugaya questioned, raising an eyebrow at the girl.

"I need to get a book for summer reading." Amui reasoned with him and continued to drag him further inside. They were way past the front desk and were already in the countless rows of books. Amui dropped Hitsugaya's arm and started looking her way through the books. "It's going to take me some time to find it. Why don't you look around? Entertain yourself?" She said, smiling back at Hitsugaya before going back to the shelves.

Hitsugaya only stared at Amui for a couple of moments before leaving himself. He was glad Amui let him loose when she was in the library. He sensed a familiar spiritual pressure coming from the library. Hitsugaya weaved through the entire building full of shelves of books. He walked around the countless people reading and the others shelving for books. He made his way up the stairs and to a small reading area where there were only chairs around where he sensed the source of the spiritual pressure.

"What are you doing here Naori?" Hitsugaya demanded. "I thought I ordered you to keep an eye on Haruka Ayumishi. What are you doing lounging around?"

"Why don't you quit being so uptight all the time?" Naori calmly snapped back with her eyes still on the book she was reading. "If I wanted to lounge around, I wouldn't be in this dumb library."

"You were supposed to keep watch of our target." Hitsugaya said and sat down beside Naori.

"I am keeping watch. See…" Naori pointed behind her where Haruka was working but her eyes still remained on the book. "It seems like the airhead works here during the weekends."

"I rather see you taking this seriously."

"I am taking this seriously." Naori said and narrowed her eyes behind her book. "You know me. I'm the one you least suspect of insubordination. Besides if I wasn't taking this seriously, I would've placed a kido spell on the target and go elsewhere. But here I am, stuck in this library, reading for who knows how long."

Hitsugaya glanced down at the table in front of him and saw a dark and old book with the title _Memories of Miyuba_ written on it. "You're reading these books?" Hitsugaya skeptically implied, picking up the huge book.

Naori peeked out of the corners of her book and saw Hitsugaya holding up that one. "No. That is something she tried to make me read though I'm not going to."

"You should be reading these types of books. It's more entertaining and educational than those light novels and manga you're always reading." Hitsugaya said and plopped the gigantic book down on Naori's lap.

"You're so old fashioned." Naori remarked at him in a very teasing manner. The glee erupted to a smile and she tried to hide it with the book she was reading. Too bad Hitsugaya saw it, got pissed, and quickly plucked the book out of her hands.

"And what are you reading now? Manga?" Hitsugaya asked and glanced at the artwork on the page.

"It's a very entertaining book. I like the main character the most. He's just like you. Full of temper, very short, and hates it when he's called short." Naori pointed out with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"So what." Hitsugaya scoffed and tossed the manga back to Naori.

"Except for the fact he's actually taller than you." Naori said, giving Hitsugaya more and more torture. Luckily, his cell rang before Naori can go any further.

"Hitsugaya-kun, I found the book I was looking for." Amui's voice sounded through the cell.

"Okay, I'll meet you outside." Hitsugaya answered and hung up.

"Getting back to your date, I see."

"Shut up." Hitsugaya tiredly said and left the reading area. "Just continue with what you were doing."

'_Weird…'_ Naori thought as she watched her captain walk down the steps leading to the first floor. _'Hitsugaya-taicho sounds just like him from the anime…'_

"Hey!" Haruka called out for Naori and rushed to her side. "Who was that silver-haired boy just a second ago? Is he your boyfriend? You two sure look like a couple! A cute one at that!"

Naori stared at the wide-eyed girl near her. She really did have no memories of that night at all. They all vanished without a trace. But someone like her, with a huge package of spiritual pressure sitting in her body, should be able to remember something. Even if they were immature, they should be able to resist a simple memory replacement at the least. Unless…

"No. That boy is my captain and I am his subordinate. He is Captain Toushirou Hitsugaya and I am 5th seat Naori Hibana. We are shinigami sent to eliminate you, Haruka Ayumishi, a dangerous entity that needs to be destroyed. I am going to kill you now." Naori blankly said and reached into her pocket. "Any last words?"

* * *

"Hello Hitsugaya-kun!" Amui waved for Hitsugaya to come over.

"Do I have to keep reminding you to stop calling me that?" Hitsugaya snapped back.

Amui only scoffed at the comment. She began to walk down the steps of the front entrance and out the area. "So what did you do the entire time in the library?" Amui asked the following boy.

"I was talking with somebody." Hitsugaya glanced back at the second floor window where Naori was.

"You mean Hibana-san right?" Amui replied. "I don't know what's between you and her, but I find it plain creepy."

"Why is that?" Hitsugaya asked, suddenly being interested in her thoughts.

"Well…Hibana-san always seems different around you. She is super cold and ruthless whenever you're not around. But when you are, she turns into this nice girl who just likes to tease everyone. Why is that?" Amui glanced back at Hitsugaya, expecting an answer.

Hitsugaya smirked at the clueless girl. "You have very keen eyes, Shizumiya." He complimented, causing Amui to smile in return. "You're right. At some times, Naori can act differently than usual. She has somewhat of a dual personality, but she doesn't act according to me."

"Then when does she switch personalities?"

"Naori…she…well…switches personalities whenever she's on mission duty. If she's ever given an order, she will follow it with no hesitation and she never notices the consequences behind it. She tends to act very ruthless and a little sadistic whenever she's in this personality. That's what I hate about her…" Hitsugaya answered, pausing briefly after the last sentence. "I'm not sure if she notices this at all…"

"Hitsugaya-kun…"

Hitsugaya glanced at Amui and briefly noticed the sympathy in her eyes. "Other than that, she's lazy, very sarcastic, and super mischievous beyond anyone's standards. That personality's just there to annoy me." He scoffed and started to walk right past her.

Amui gazed on at the boy walking past her. She realized that no matter how much he tried to hide it, no matter how many times he scoffed off a comment and tried to walk away. Hitsugaya actually really does care about his closest friends like Naori. He just has too much pride in him to show it. He actually looks kind of cool when doing this. Amui smiled back at him, thinking maybe he could soften up a little and show this side of him more often.

"If you're going to daydream in the middle of the street than I'll just leave you till someone else comes!" Hitsugaya called back, snapping Amui out of her la la land.

"Hitsugaya-kun!! Wait up!" Amui ran up to her friend, astounded how he could always walk so far.

"You have got to stop daydreaming in the most inconvenient times."

"God!! It was only for a few seconds! Besides, stop being so uptight all the time! You'll be a whole lot of fun without that apathetic attitude of yours."

"Grr…I am not one of those grumpy little grandpa's you humans call apathetic!"

"Well, you got the hair to match and the grumpiness and the delaying height growth."

"Are you really trying to piss me off?"

The two of them were talking while walking and other people where having quite an interesting take on what they were talking about. Occasionally, they would follow after the two because their conversation was just that funny. Somebody, that both Amui and Hitsugaya knew, already was following after them and keeping her ears in their conversation. Of course with a kido barrier so neither of them noticed her sneaking up on them.

'_My…they sure are getting close.'_ Naori peeked out of the corners of her book, effectively spying on them. _'Hitsugaya-taicho did say to keep an eye on the target. He didn't say to keep an eye on that Haruka girl though…not that I need to now…'_

Naori suddenly noticed she could barely hear their arguing. She found them almost half a block away! Naori got up, snuck up to them, and sat back down with her book still in her face. Luckily, her captain and Amui stopped for a minute to get food and still argue. Actually, it was more of Amui teasing Hitsugaya and Hitsugaya getting really mad over it.

'_And here I thought I'm the only one who teases him like that.'_ Naori amusingly thought with a smile, until she saw her captain giving a smirk. _'Is he actually smiling? Is she smiling back? What is going on over there?'_

Then all that teasing started to turn into a normal, girl-boy conversation. The ones that are without the fighting and the arguing. Amui was munching down on a sandwich while sipping on orange juice and Hitsugaya just had a glass of water. They both seemed to have calmed down a little and actually act mature to each other. Though both of them hadn't noticed Naori moving into the seat behind Amui.

"So tell me…" Amui took another bite out of her sandwich. "What do you spend your time doing rather than fighting these hollows?"

"Why do I have to tell you?" Another smart answer from Hitsugaya.

A glint could be seen in the corner of Amui's eye. "Well…during a date, you are supposed to talk about yourself and have a perfectly nice conversation."

"I thought I already told you that Naori had that covered-wait!" His eyes widened at the mistake he just made. "This is not a date!!"

"Too late! Start talking!" Amui smiled and took a sip out of her orange juice.

'_She got you there, captain.'_ Naori thought as she continued to listen in on the interesting conversation. _'I think I might even consider this girl as an equal. Though I don't give Hitsugaya-taicho that much torture. It's usually the other way around when I'm up against him. But I always get the last laugh!'_

Hitsugaya frowned at the happy go lucky girl smiling at him. "Right now, I'm on a mission. I don't have time to play around in this world. Besides once I get back, I have work to do."

Amui innocently blinked her eyes. "You know…you're a workaholic."

"And you have way too many mood swings to count."

A pissed off Amui slammed her drink right into the table. "I do not have that multiple personality disorder like your little subordinate! I'm just moody! What's the problem with that?"

"I don't know." Hitsugaya said, rolling his eyes. "One minute, you're happy. The next minute, you're an angry bull. You're always flipping in and out like this."

Amui felt her jaw drop and she haughtily stood up to leave without saying another word. Though she still stopped a couple of feet away and motioned for Hitsugaya to follow her. They both left the eating area, but the spy spying on them stayed in her seat.

'_Me? A disorder?'_ Too shocked to even move with her eyes fixated on the page of the book she was on. Desperate, Naori tried to think of something else. _'Now that I think about it…why am I still reading this book? Why did that entity container ever made me read such a thing? Oh wait! I almost forgot. She's not the target anymore.'_

Meanwhile, Amui and Hitsugaya were already walking away from the place they were eating at, all in a while bickering or talking with one another. Hitsugaya showed signs to have mellowed down a bit and Amui rarely started being aggressive again. Time quickly flew by as the two begun to know each other more. Amui revealed about her friends, school, and family while Hitsugaya, surprisingly, talked about Hinamori and Matsumoto for a while. Slowly, the sun began to set…

"Well I think Shiro-chan is a cute name! Why didn't I think of that before?" Amui giggled.

"If you ever use it, I'll make sure a hollow eats you whole." Hitsugaya coldly snapped back.

"C'mon, I know you're not that heartless." Amui playfully punched him in the arm.

Hitsugaya gave his usual glares at Amui and _playfully_ punched her back as well. Though it ended with Amui falling down into the ground and she skidded at least a couple of feet before finally stopping. Amui yelped in pain as she fell and she painfully rubbed her butt.

"What the hell Hitsugaya-kun?" Amui cried out, annoyed.

"Sorry…"Hitsugaya apologized and proceeded to help her up. But the sight of blood on the ground caught his attention quick. "You're bleeding…"

"What?" Amui glanced down to see a little cut on her finger with a slight trickle of blood coming down. "It's a scratch. I'm okay."

"No you're not." Hitsugaya helped her up from the ground. "I'm not sure I have a band-aid, but I'm sure Naori has some. Follow me."

With a bit of hesitation at first, Amui quickly followed after the guy. Hitsugaya walked around the corner and up a couple flight of stairs on the outside of the building. Amui spotted the door that lead to Hitsugaya's apartment. Hitsugaya stopped at the door before that and he began to loudly knock on the door. Silence hung over the air for a couple of seconds and Hitsugaya just opened the door, thinking there was no one inside.

"What do you want?" A soft voice asked. Naori sat on a large comfortable looking reading chair with a glass bedside table. She glanced up from the top of her book to see him.

"I need some band-aids." Hitsugaya said and gestured to the dripping cut on Amui's hand.

Naori glanced at the nervous girl's hand waving at her. The cut was on one of her fingers, the middle one to be exact, and a trail of blood was already coming down her palm. Naori slowly pointed towards her bathroom. "Behind the mirror cabinet is a couple." She said, lowering her book down to her lap.

Hitsugaya nodded and he walked out of the living room and into the bathroom. Amui was about to follow, but the sight of Naori silently staring at her made her stop. Desperate, Amui tried to change the awkward situation.

"Hey! Are you reading _Memories of Miyuba_? That book is great! That is…if you're into romance and all that stuff." Amui nervously babbled out. "I read a little part of it and I tried to find the last letter the author left for his love before. It says its still there, being a non-fiction book and all, but I never really found it. The other day, Hitsugaya-kun and I-"

"Hitsugaya-taicho and you…" Naori repeated in a silent monotonous tone. "That reminds me…didn't I tell you not to interact with him anymore?"

"I know you did. But I also know Hitsugaya-kun ordered you to and he usually never means half of what he says." Amui pointed out.

"You…ignored…me?" Her face went dark and she hid herself behind her book. Her dark blue locks effectively hiding her supposedly bright yellow eyes. "You…actually…went to him? Even when I said not to?"

"Look! I know you said not to, but I just couldn't help it!" Amui nervously explained, backing away from her. "Sorry if that hurt you in any way-"

"Get out…"

"Excuse me?" Amui strained her ears now that Naori was talking in a small whisper.

"Get out…get out…you don't belong here…" Naori glared at her behind the pages and clenched her hands in fists on the book. "Get out…get out…"

"Shizumiya!" Hitsugaya came through with a bunch of band-aids in his hands. He opened up the palm of Amui's hand and placed the bandage on where the cut was. He also brought out a wet paper towel and washed off most of the blood.

"Thanks Hitsugaya-kun…" Amui said and rubbed the band-aid. She quickly turned to leave the apartment. Before going out the door, Amui glanced back at Hitsugaya. "See you around, I guess."

"Bye." Hitsugaya waved after the leaving girl.

Amui smiled back at him and she quickly made off. Not once glancing back at him after that. Maybe more of not glancing back at that apartment.

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Err…Naori is slightly pissed about the fact that Amui wants and enjoys to spend time with Hitsugaya. Or that Amui defied her orders. Either way, Naori is still pretty mad. Not that it's going to be a problem for her or anything…[wink, wink] Anyways, just what did Naori do to Haruka? I wonder…Also, guess whom I'm referencing Shiro-chan to? It's so much fun to compare the two of them together!Review!!!


	11. Tennis

_I'm a tennis player, enough said. I needed some sort of scenario for the next chapter, which you might read in a week, or two. How many of you are still throwing up at all this Amui/Hitsugaya? Don't worry, I'm slowly reeling Naori back in._

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Tennis

'_Get out…get out…'_ Those hateful words continued playing in her head when she was on her way to school. By then, Amui lost all understanding of Naori. She knew Naori had that personality disorder, but it didn't appear like Hitsugaya had described it…Bam!

"I keep telling you to not go in a daze all of a sudden." A sharp voice sounded above her head.

"Hello Hitsugaya-kun." Amui grumbled and sat back up. "Are you going to school today?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Hitsugaya said, gesturing to the uniform and the school bag.

Right…" Amui sarcastically replied and picked herself up. "Since we're both going to school, why don't you and I walk there together?"

"Fine…" Hitsugaya shrugged and started walking off.

Amui ran faster to catch up with him. They walked together, side by side, with the occasional conversations popping up sometimes. When Hitsugaya and Amui had gotten within a couple of blocks of the school, they suddenly encountered a group of girls.

"This is bad! We need somebody to fill in for her!" One of the girls loudly exclaimed.

"If we can't find somebody, our team won't make it to the play-offs." They heard another one say. Other thoughts also ran through the air. "We made it this far! We can't quit now! - But her arm's not going to heal in time! – Where is the sub!? – She's out of town."

"Excuse me…what's wrong?" Amui asked approaching the group. Once she had gotten closer, she noticed they were all carrying sports bags.

"It's terrible!" One of the girls exclaimed in panic.

"Hold on. What's going on?" Hitsugaya asked, approaching the girls. Since Hitsugaya was still new at the school, he was still the hot new transfer talk of the school. Nothing strange of all the girls suddenly blushing.

"Well…Hitsugaya-senpai…" A first year student stammered out. "The girls tennis team is going to play in a few days…and the second singles player broke her arm…so…"

"The team needs to find somebody to play second singles." A student finished for her. "The matches are going to be on Friday and we need somebody who can play tennis or good at sports at least."

"Hm…" Hitsugaya thought about it for a while. "You know…I think I know somebody who can fill in-"

"Wait! That reminds me!" The girl suddenly turned to Amui, who had a plain dumbfounded look on. "You're Amui Shizumiya! You score a clear A+ in gym classes every term. I bet you know a little something about tennis."

"Well…" Amui nervously stammered. "I know bits and pieces about it. The coaches did teach me and stuff during classes and…"

"Do you know how to serve, hit, smash, and volley?" Another one of the girls demanded.

"Well…um…" Amui stalled, unsure of what to say.

"Sure she can do it. Right?" Hitsugaya slightly glanced over at Amui.

"Well…I guess I can try and play for you guys…but I might be out of practice!" Amui said with a slight blush on her face after the encouragement from Hitsugaya out of all people.

"It's okay! Our team will whip you back in shape in no time flat! You'll be ready to kick butt Friday after we're done with you!" A girl enthusiastically exclaimed.

'_Now I suddenly feel so scared!'_ Amui nervously thought, wrinkling her skirt with her clenching hands.

"School's about to start! We better hurry!" One of the girls in the group warned.

"Shizumiya-san! Practice will be after school!" Somebody else called back and soon, the group started to head off.

"Okay!" Amui called back to them.

"Are you going to go to tennis practice?" Hitsugaya asked after they all left.

"Yeah I have no choice." Amui said smiling at him. "Thanks for roping me into all this!" Her smile soon died out and she playfully smacked Hitsugaya in the arm.

"Why you…" Hitsugaya growled, clinging to his throbbing arm.

"You're coming to practice with me, okay?" Amui stated and started to walk towards the school. Any minute later and they'll be very late.

"Just why do I have to come with you?" Hitsugaya, very irritated, followed after her.

"Punishment for getting me to play for them. I was going to politely refuse since I'm so out of shape. But you had to butt in and make me do this. Ohh!! I don't even remember how to hold the racquet anymore!" Amui whined.

"Great! Now you get a taste of what butting into peoples businesses feels like." Hitsugaya remarked under his breath.

"Hey! I can hear you, you know." Amui snapped back, jutting her finger into Hitsugaya's chest. "We got to hurry or we'll be late too!"

"I don't need to hear that twice." Hitsugaya said, avoiding Amui's finger. He slung his bag over his shoulder and he was already walking out to the nearby school.

Amui sighed. The two of them were always going to be at each other's necks, yelling at each other and making rude remarks back and forth. It was like they were two best friends who known each other since childhood. Not true, but still good enough.

Soon both of them made it to school and were already in their seats for the first class. Strangely, Naori came in late at the first class effectively skipping homeroom. Until now, she and Hitsugaya would come in together at the same time. Students were spreading rumors about the two of them, but those rumors soon died down once Amui had shown up with Hitsugaya. Luckily, neither Hitsugaya nor Amui noticed any of the strange looks they were getting.

Hours later and it was now English language class. Amui effectively had her books propped up right in front of her desk. She maneuvered her wrists with a pencil, practicing like she was holding a racquet. She twisted her hands here and there and practiced what she remembered. Suddenly, a piece of paper landed in front of her.

**What are you doing?**

Amui glanced back to see Hitsugaya strangely looking at her. She smiled, wrote back to him on the note, and tossed it right back at him, effectively hitting the guy on the nose.

**I'm practicing.**

The paper was quickly tossed right back at Amui.

**I bet you're either nervous or you like to take notes in the most retarded way possible.**

A vein sprouted at Amui's forehead and she scratched her reply back onto the note and chucked it right back at him.

**Oh haha…you're so funny, I forgot to laugh. You're still coming with me to practice. No hollow business or secret mission's going to get you out of this.**

As if on cue, the boy's temper fired up so quick that an almost yell of the name who annoyed him could slightly be heard. Knowing he's smart, Hitsugaya shut his mouth and scribbled back his answer.

**God you're annoying! Fine I'll come, but you owe me.**

The wad of paper slightly knocked Amui in the head. She quickly grabbed it before anyone noticed and wrote back an answer before chucking it back over.

**Okay then, meet me after school. Better cheer me on during practice!**

The little note flew but it didn't head for Hitsugaya at all. It conveniently ricocheted off the corner of his desk and landed on Naori's desk while she was taking notes. Naori glanced at the piece of paper before opening it up and reading it. Amui immediately caught that and now her face furiously blushed up to at least a hundred shades of red. She groaned and hid her face behind her books. Hitsugaya noticed this as well and he held his hand out to get the note back. Naori read the last couple of messages and quickly handed the note back. In neat tiny printed handwriting, like the reports Naori turns in, Hitsugaya read:

**Hitsugaya-taicho: You're not serious are you?**

Hitsugaya didn't have time to give a reply back since the bell already rang, signaling lunch. As other students departed, Hitsugaya immediately went right to Naori. Amui noticed this but didn't interfere.

"Why are you asking?" Hitsugaya asked.

Naori shrugged. "Just wondering…if you were getting close with her or anything?"

A slight blush could be noticed on his pale face, but he quickly wavered it off. "Don't be ridiculous. It's nothing like that."

"Okay." Naori shrugged and she brought out her box lunch. She glanced back at Hitsugaya and noticed he wasn't holding anything to eat. "Where's your lunch?"

"How do I know? You're the one that makes both of our lunches." Hitsugaya pointed out.

"What!!!?" Naori frantically searched through her bag and desk. The box containing Hitsugaya's lunch was nowhere to be found. "Oops! I must have forgotten it back at home! Sorry captain."

Hitsugaya sighed. "It's okay. I'll buy something…"

"No! I can run back home and get your lunch right away! It's only going to take me a few minutes." Naori quickly stood.

"Naori. There's no need-"

"I made sweet natto and rice for you."

A long pause before he answered. "It's best that you hurry back."

"I will!"

He couldn't say much afterwards since she was already running out the classroom. Hitsugaya sighed and ruffled his hands through his spiky white hair, contemplating on what to do next.

"You have your subordinates cook for you?" A skeptical voice sounded. "What else does she do? Clean and do your laundry?"

"Jealous?" Hitsugaya remarked back at Amui, who only glanced away.

She gathered up the parts of her box lunch that looked like a huge foot-by-foot cube and she started to head out of the classroom. "Let's go eat outside Hitsugaya-kun. I'll let you eat part of my lunch."

"I'll wait." He replied.

"Don't be so silly." Amui said and grabbed Hitsugaya's wrists. "Besides, I made a big lunch and I can't finish it all. And it's a thirty-minute walk, so lunch will be over by the time she even gets to the school. You'll be starving by then."

"But-"

"Come on." She effectively dragged him outside.

Hitsugaya blankly stared at the huge amounts of food that was once packed into Amui's box lunch. It was more like she packed a picnic brunch than simply a lunch, enough to feed the whole Soul Society even. Hitsugaya cautiously prodded one piece with his chopsticks.

"Is there anything wrong?" Amui curiously asked.

"Testing."

"What makes you think that!?" A familiar irritated tone sounded through her voice.

"I've tasted Orihime Inoue's cooking." That effectively shut Amui up.

"Oh…" Amui remembered all the homemade lunches Orihime would bring in. She didn't even want to remember the jelly and wasabi filled rice ball with mustard on top she once ate. "Don't worry. My cooking is not out of the ordinary. Here! Do you want some sweet natto I made?"

Hitsugaya opened his mouth to answer, but at that time, Amui effectively flung some of her food into his mouth. She had a sparkling little smile plastered on her face as she enjoyed Hitsugaya's pissed off face as he ate. She seems to get through him very, very quickly.

Somewhere in the shadows, a dark figure glanced out at the two eating. A tiny frown placed on her face. Something dropped out of her hands and into a trash barrel. It familiarly looked like grains of rice and beans.

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"Hitsugaya-kun!" Amui waved for him to come over. She leaned against the front doorway, waiting for him to come over.

"Hitsugaya-taicho." A softer voice said over his desk. Glancing up, he saw Naori looking down on him in a blank gaze.

"I'm going to be coming back late. You can leave dinner back in my apartment." Hitsugaya quickly packed up the rest of his things. "Is there anything you like to report to me on your part?"

"Well…no-but-"

"If the target remains in her current stable condition, then you don't have to patrol the town today. You can spend today as a day off." Hitsugaya merely brushed past her and met up with Amui at the door.

"That's not what I was trying to say." Naori quietly whispered, watching the two of them head away.

Amui was off babbling about tennis and how she was going to fail so much at that. Hitsugaya mostly spent most of his talking reassuring her and telling her that she needs to get some tennis gear. Once they entered the gym, the whole club of girls was confidently waiting for Amui to come in.

"Great you came!" A girl said, possibly the head honcho. "We have tennis gear prepped up and ready to use. We'll teach you the basic maneuvers and hits in tennis. We'll rally with you a bit and probably play a match if you catch on fast." She glanced at Hitsugaya. "Oh, I see you brought your boyfriend. He can sit over there in the bleachers."

Amui and Hitsugaya started heating up. "Hold on! We're not-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I really don't care." The girl rolled her eyes and pushed Hitsugaya into the bleachers. "Now get moving Shizumiya!"

"Yes ma'am!!!"

Hitsugaya landed in a thud and he started grumbling on how annoying human girls have become. Nonetheless, he stayed there in the bleachers, continuously watching Amui practice. The girl's team was tough, but they were really helpful. Amui was already hitting tennis balls with exact precision and enough speed to beat a racing bee. But her backhands were completely off and she mostly tapped the ball in for those. She also learned how to serve a little, but the team merely told her to tap the ball in since she didn't play tennis that well. Even though it was all hard work, Amui seemed to be having fun.

"How'd you think I did?" Amui gulped down some water in a flash.

Hitsugaya barely glanced up at her. "Terrible. Your form was completely off."

A vein popped in her head and she dumped the rest of her water bottle on his head. "Don't start. It's my first day okay."

Annoyed, Hitsugaya reached up for the water that was splattered on his head and flicked some off at Amui. "Watch it." He warned in a deathly tone. "I have complete power over water and ice and I won't hesitate to freeze you over this second."

Amui shrugged. "Go ahead. I'm sweating hot as of now."

He slightly smiled, reached over for some of the nearby water bottles and splashed it all over the front of Amui. She giggled and laughed and playfully slapped Hitsugaya as a comeback.

"Hitsugaya-kun! I didn't mean it like that!" Amui shouted through her giggling fit.

"You two! Stop flirting!" The team captain ordered. "Get back on court Shizumiya! Your opponent is tough and we don't want to lose this tournament because you and your beau want alone time together."

"Why you…" Amui dangerously said through gritted teeth. "Hitsugaya-kun and I are nothing okay!!?"

"Get back on court!!"

Amui groaned and gathered her racquet. "It looks like Miss Do Anything To Win wants me back. I don't even think I'll win this anyway."

"Why bother than?" Hitsugaya asked.

"I don't know. I guess I'm a nice girl than." Amui replied, sending soft smiles back to him. But those smiles disappeared again. "Again. Thank you for making me do this."

"You're welcome." Another sarcastic remark from him. "Besides, what makes you think you're going to lose? This is the first day of training and you're catching on fast."

"That's because we're facing against a tough tennis club and they are the hardest opponents to beat in the competition." Amui replied. "I would know since I've been to the club before."

"I think you might win, Shizumiya." Hitsugaya leaned back against the bleachers and stared up at the ceiling.

"What makes you think that?" Amui leaned over him to see him reply.

"Ever since I got here, you've been giving me surprises. It's logical that you might have a chance to beat them." Hitsugaya explained.

Amui sighed. "I'll have to see my opponent to think I'll have a chance to beat them." She started to walk away from those very bleachers, but she turned back around again. "Hitsugaya-kun!"

"What is it now?" An annoyed answer from him.

"You're betting that I might win?" Hitsugaya slightly nodded with his attention still at the ceiling. Amui sighed and spoke again. "When I go and play on Friday, cheer for me okay?"

"Maybe…"

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Um…nothing else for me to say. Review for the next chapter!!!!


	12. Matches I

_Waaa!!!! I'm going to start school in a week! Hello freshman year!! Back to the story. This is a short chapter I apologize. Initially, I wanted it to be one full chapter consisting of only the match between Amui and Naori. But that got too long once I began with the details and it went on to be a very, very, very long chapter that I had to split the chapter up so I won't have to waste time scrolling for mistakes! Also, if you're wondering, I play tennis._

_And…oh my! A lot of you hate my second OC for some reason. I wonder why?? You can tell me in your reviews why some of you prefer Naori over Amui. What is it? The personalities? The looks? The fact Naori has powers? You can tell me and maybe, I'll improve their characters based on your reviews._

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Matches I

Amui half-heartedly trudged all the way to the girl's locker room with all her equipment strapped to her shoulder. Her equipment being the tennis team's uniform and one of the selected racquets from the team. Amui didn't know why she felt so tired. Maybe it was from all that hellish training, or the fact she was training from day to night. Or maybe she was nervous of her opponent. Either way, she was tired! Amui plopped down on the benches and laid down, hoping to get some naptime in before the matches.

"Shizumiya! Wake up!" A commanding voice screamed.

"Uh…" Amui groaned, rubbing her head.

"You have an important match today! Don't go sleeping on us!" The captain yelled at her.

"Yes ma'am." Amui weakly replied and started changing into the team uniform.

"Shizumiya-san." Another one of team members called out. Luckily, one of the nice ones. "Shizumiya-san. You're very lucky about today's matches. We're facing one of the best tennis clubs in Japan!"

"What's so lucky about that?" Amui skeptically asked whilst changing her top.

"It so happens that your opponent also got an injury as well, so you're actually going to be playing a sub!!" The girl happily exclaimed. "Rumor has it that it happened yesterday, so they just picked some random girl walking in the street to play for them. The chances of you winning are rising up!"

"Hmm… That's good to know." Amui said in relief.

"What's wrong? Aren't you ecstatic?" The girl cocked her head to the side while asking.

"Oh no! It's nothing! I just…well…feel a little bit nervous." Amui answered with wavering emotions.

"Well don't be!" The captain confidently answered. "They just got some random girl off the streets to play! And she only had a day to practice! You're going to win, trust me!"

Amui mused on at the thought. Maybe they were right. She's been practicing this thing for a whole week while her opponent only had a day. She's definitely got the advantage. Amui had no idea why she was all nervous back there. She'd really need to shake the butterflies out once she got on the courts. It'd look pretty stupid for Hitsugaya anyways since he'll be cheering for her.

Amui smirked and snapped the elastic on to put her ponytail in place. She was now confident she'd win! For sure!

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"Hold on! I'm facing her!!!!" Amui stared dumbfounded at her opponent. She sighed and fainted on the ground in a heap.

"Shizumiya?" The captain reached down and shook her awake. "Of course she's your opponent. You both are listed down as the second singles players. Don't worry! You can beat her easy."

"You kidding? I'm definitely going to get creamed!" Amui snapped.

"What are you talking about?" The captain pointed at her opponent. "Look at her! She could barely even pass as a middle school student! You got this!"

Amui sighed and put her defeated face. No way was she going to win! She was facing the girl who wants to hunt her down, the girl who hated her from the very start, the girl who wants to erase her very existence! Okay…maybe Amui was overreacting, but this is Naori Hibana she's facing!

"Hey? Isn't your opponent talking to your boyfriend?" That was enough to snap Amui out of it.

The captain glared at Naori while she walked over to Hitsugaya. "That's low! That boy's been to all of your practices! Now she's trying to dig up some dirt!"

"Chill…they know each other." Amui calmed her down and also left to get to Naori and Hitsugaya, who seemed to be having their usual, straight-faced, business talks.

"Hitsugaya-taicho? What are you doing here?" Naori asked, confused.

"Shizumiya asked me to. You? You look like you're in this tournament." Hitsugaya gestured at the sports-like tank top and the tennis skirt.

"These girls came up to while I was in the shopping districts. They were all asking me if I could play this human sport. They came at me so fast I couldn't finish my grocery shopping!" Naori replied.

"I didn't know you could play this sport." Hitsugaya was secretly amazed a little.

Naori slightly chuckled at the remark. "I don't actually."

"Hey guys!" Amui called out for the two.

"Shizumiya…" Hitsugaya mumbled.

"Hey Hibana-san. You and I are facing each other." Amui winced at the thought.

"How interesting." Hitsugaya mused on, glancing at both of the girls. "I never expected for this to happen."

"I'm leaving. Our match is about to start anyway." Naori bluntly said and left. Suddenly, she turned over to Hitsugaya. "By the way, captain. You can still cheer for her. I assume that's why you're here." And by then, she left.

Amui stared on, dumbfounded at the girl. Naori really does switch fast for someone who only does that only for missions. "I guess I'll go as well."

"Good luck." She suddenly heard.

"What?" Amui turned back to Hitsugaya, surprised. He really didn't seem the type to be that enthusiastic.

"Good. Luck." He repeated, punctuating on every word. "You're going to need it since you're facing my subordinate."

"Wow…you're so supportive." Amui rolled her eyes and headed off the main court.

Soon, the alarm sounded for the second singles players to start. Amui stood waiting at her spot on one side of the court and Naori stood on the other. Both held straight faces at each other and neither seemed willing to back out. Though Amui looked like she could squeal at any moment.

"The match between Amui Shizumiya and Naori Hibana shall now commence. We are playing to six games and there are adds at deuce." The announcer stated. "Hibana won the spin for this game and she decided to serve first."

'_Okay, don't be so nervous Amui. Just concentrate on the game! Hibana only had one day of practice so she can't be that good, right?'_ Amui thought as she continued hopping on one foot to another to keep her feet moving.

Naori got one little tennis ball and she stood near the edge of the singles line, getting ready to serve.

'_Remember, you're at the advantage! You can do this!'_ Amui prepared herself to return whatever Naori had to throw at her.

Naori threw the ball up and tapped it right into the service box. The ball simply went up about a couple of feet and plopped right down and bounced back up a couple of feet.

'_You serious. That's it?'_ Amui stepped to one side to let the ball go to her forehand. She smacked it down the line and watched it bounce in and out of the court. After that, constant cheering from the tennis team after that winner.

Naori didn't even make a run for the ball. She simply went to get another ball and prepared for the next serve. She tossed it up and tapped it back in, leading Amui to smack the ball back over. Again, she didn't even make a run for it. Naori simply stood there and let the ball whiz by her. She didn't even glance at it much less; raise her racquet to hit it.

'_I'm guessing Hibana-san has no idea how to play the game.'_ Amui reasoned. _'In that case, I might just have a chance to win this thing!'_

Amui smacked yet another and another ball over the net, letting it whiz right by Naori. Amui sighed and glanced over at the bleachers. She wanted to see if Hitsugaya really was cheering for her. She just won a match…kind of. Knowing Hitsugaya, he wouldn't really do stuff like enthusiastically cheering, but a single clap or nod was good enough. Hitsugaya was watching the match, interested at that. He actually seemed to be concentrating on both Amui and Naori and their match. He was sitting forward on his seat on the metal bleachers, his head resting on his hand. Serious eyes fixated on the match.

Amui prepared for her serve. Her opponent stood ready in front of the service box except her racquet was still down by her side. Amui concentrated her attention and tossed the ball high up. She smacked it and watched the ball spin into the box. It skidded right into the center of the box and right past Naori, who didn't even try to go for the ball again.

'_Wow! All that training must have paid off!'_ Amui confidently thought, until she glanced at her blatant score. _'But I'm going a little too hard on someone who's only been playing for a day. Maybe I should go easy.'_

Amui prepared the ball for the next serve and she started up the high toss. But instead, she gave the ball only a slight tap and let it go up and into the service box. The ball sailed so incredibly slow that even a little baby could get it. It bounced into the service box and sailed right to Naori's raised forehand! That made it so that there's absolutely no way that she could miss it! Except Naori missed the ball when she swung.

'_She got aced by that!'_ Amui doubtfully asked herself. A sweat drop ran down her forehead and she felt her grip as eternally lost on her racquet. _'Well, she was going for the ball at least. I'll just keep going easy on her.'_

Amui went for another tapping and Naori missed…again. Amui frowned and she did it again and again, with each attempt lighter than the next one. But Naori just kept missing on every single ball. Amui really couldn't believe the slowest ball anyone could have gotten was acing Naori! Was she really that bad at tennis? Amui sighed and glanced back up at Hitsugaya. Seeing if he showed any reaction to her second game won. Still nothing.

Hitsugaya sat at the edge of his seat, propping his tired head against the palm of his hand. "I wonder…" He mumbled under his breath. "Just how long is she going to keep fooling around?"

Right at that moment, a tiny little smile graced her face and her bright golden eyes lit up again. Naori got another ball and prepared for her serve of the game.

The current score was 2-0 with Amui winning and she looked ready enough to receive her serve. Amui happily smiled, knowing she had a lead in this match. And by the way Naori has been playing, she might just actually win it all. Amui settled herself right in front of the service box, getting ready to hit the simple taps that were coming. The simple, bouncing taps.

Naori rocked back into her other foot as she prepared to serve. She was all-smiles as she threw the ball up high into the air. At that time, intent clearly woven through her eyes and the façade came to a close.

Amui gasped as the ball came shooting right at her. She frantically got back up on her feet and raised her racquet to counter it. But she was too late! The ball already whizzed right past her racquet and smacked itself against the fence, lodging itself into openings of the wiring. Shaking, Amui glanced back to see the damage done before glancing back at a smirking Naori. The crowd went silent and so did the referees. The opposing teams were also silent and Hitsugaya, well, didn't really seem all that surprised.

Frantically shaking of fear and surprise, Amui stared directly into Naori's eyes. Those amber eyes of hers were gleaming with confidence and her mouth crooked into a semi-smile. _'Just how did she do that? How did she ace me?'_ Amui frantically thought and scurried over to try and receive another one of Naori's serves. Though they were just bouncing right by her. And if she managed to return one, Naori would just smack it right back over even harder than before. Amui felt her breath losing out on her as she frantically ran around to get all the balls Naori was giving her. But she would just hit it cross-court and make it go even faster! Soon that game was won with Naori as the winner.

Panting, Amui staggered all the way to her seat and plopped down gasping for air. She dropped her racquet onto the floor and drank at least a gallon of water for her dry throat. She really couldn't believe Naori had been holding back all that power! And what for?

"It looks like you got yourself a challenge." Somebody above her remarked and Amui immediately recognized that taunting tone.

"Hitsugaya-kun, you knew Hibana-san was good at this!" Amui angrily accused.

"No I didn't!" Hitsugaya snapped back at her. "What I knew was that she was just toying with you for the first two games before going serious."

Amui stopped her little angry fit when she heard that. "Toying? Why would she do that?"

"Simple. It's a basic tactic in battle and life. You make it seem like your opponent thinks they have the upper hand. Call it false hope, I guess. And then, you proceed to show your true colors in the element of surprise thus breaking down your opponent's initial defenses. It renders them into a completely frantic state where they have no time to react." Hitsugaya explained and glanced at his subordinate, who was in the middle of a talk with a bunch of girls. Probably the ones that roped her into this match.

"Again, why would she use this tactic in a tennis match?" Amui demanded.

"She's probably just playing you around for her own amusement." Hitsugaya concluded.

"Wow…what a sadist!" Amui remarked, being a little surprised.

"I find it annoying. She's done it to me before." Hitsugaya grumbled. "Your break is almost over. You better get back in."

Amui nodded and she grabbed her racquet again. All those previous games, Naori had been letting her win! She had just been playing around with her and then; she was having fun watching her squirm. Amui was definitely not going to let her get away with that! This time, she will go all out and not hold back anything!

Naori noticed the constant glares she'd been getting from both Amui and the school tennis team. Naori gave a polite smile to Amui, but a glint in her amber eyes told otherwise. Both girls slowly walked up to the their ends of the court with their confidence walking with them. Their physical auras shooting up from their bodies even. They both stared into one another eyes and hands clenched on the grips of their racquets.

'_The real game starts now!'_

Hitsugaya glanced at the starting game between the two girls with his attention, this time, only on Amui. "I guess I should have told you…" He whispered. "Shizumiya…"

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Now things are starting to heat up between Amui and Naori. Who do you think will win? What did our little Shiro need to tell Amui? Personally, I do know but am not going to tell. I needed a nice little line to end this short chapter.

_Review!!!!!!!!_


	13. Matches II

_This is…the continuation…of the last chapter. Okay…a little different from what the last line meant, but still the same and it works!_

_Anyways, received the reviews and you guys want Amui to stay the same and in character and to NOT change her. Come on! I'm not really going to change characters on reviewers request. I was simply curious. Anyways, on with the plot._

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Matches II

Panting, Amui dashed all the way cross-court to receive another one of Naori's forehands. There was so much spin on the ball that it could just spin right off her racquet or even drill a hole in it. Naori's always-consistent hits kept Amui running all around for every single game. For some reason, Naori never seemed to break a sweat during this entire match and Amui was sweating like a dog. Amui swung and missed the ball as it drove right by her. She staggered over to the receiving box to get another one of Naori's constant aces. This entire game she had been very, very lucky! Lucky enough to be able to receive Naori and her power filled, top spinning, serves!

Naori smashed another serve at the girl and watched her try to return the ball. She stood in her place and smashed it back to her only for her to hit it back. Naori frowned and smacked the ball right over, cross-court, and watched Amui frantically dash for the ball. Even tripping on her feet in the middle of her frantic running. She still got it. Seriously, when was that girl going to give up?

Amui still got the ball, except it framed off her racquet and went into a high lob right on the other side of the net. Bouncing a couple feet in the air above the net, that was the easy ball any one could just smashed. Naori dashed up at net and prepared to swing down.

Amui saw that stance and she prepared to return whatever Naori had to throw at her. She's been playing serious this whole time and she's going to keep it that way! Suddenly, the ball was smashed from up high in the air and down right at Amui! Gasping, Amui tried to maneuver out of its path but it was still coming at her. She stepped out to the side and held her racquet for the return. Sadly, the ball smacked almost near the handle of her racquet and it power shot it right out of her hands! At that moment, she only saw a flash of green and her racquet flying a couple of feet away from her. Wincing from the searing pain, Amui glanced over at the scoreboard 3-4.

Hitsugaya still stared, unsurprised, at all the events happening around him. "I guess I should have told Naori to take it easy on her." Hitsugaya mumbled.

Of course, Naori was going to beat the living pants off of Amui in this simple human game. From what Hitsugaya had observed from his visits to Amui's practices, those tennis swings were just as equivalent to swordsmanship. The forehand was an upward slash with the katana, backhand is just a backhanded slash with one or two hands, and smashing was just striking down the opponent. All the other fancy moves just incorporated different styles of the sword. And Naori already knows two styles. Let's face it. Amui really has no chance of winning if she's against Naori. She may have had a whole week of training, but Naori has had decades.

Hitsugaya glanced at his fifth seat subordinate, Naori Hibana. She seemed completely in control and cooler than even his shikai. She had that blank face on again, the one that she uses on serious missions or when she's in that _other_ personality. She was standing normally while Amui looked like she was ready to faint on the court. What if…

Amui prepared for her serve. She tossed it high up and slammed it into the service box. She put her ultimate spin on the ball and prayed that it would skid correctly once it hit the service. Luckily, the ball skidded forward and bounced off the frame of Naori's racquet and off to the side, scoring her the first point. Surprised for even herself, Ami bounced up and down on the tips of her toes, cheering on for herself! She finally broke through that stonewall of Naori!

Naori glanced down at her racquet after that point. _'Damn…I messed up.'_ She shrugged it off and walked over to the next box when she suddenly noticed something off. Very off… Her captain, sitting on the bleachers, clapping a little after Amui had won the point. _'Wh-Why is he clapping for her? She only won because I messed up! Wh-What is going on?'_

Unfortunately, she had been way too caught up in her thoughts to notice the ball whizzing right by her. Naori shook her head and got back to reality. Amui again looked surprised that she suddenly aced Naori for real!

Naori smacked her head with her knuckle. _'Now's not the time to be thinking about unnecessary things like that. I'll think about it after the match. Right now, concentrate only on the game!'_ Naori wiped her knuckle away from her forehead and it revealed that same blank stare she had on before.

Naori received another of Amui's simple, flat kind of serves and she smashed it only inches off from the net. Amui ran up and easily returned it back over. Testing her, Naori slightly hit the ball so it would land in the service box areas. Her plan: make Amui run up to the net and than lob the ball afterwards and watch her run for it. Amui took the bait and she ran after the approach shot, smacked it over, and ran right up to net. Naori smirked and lobbed the ball up as high and far as she could possibly go. It sailed up high over Amui's head and was still sailing behind her. That lob was going for the base line!

Realizing that, Amui dashed right after the ball and smacked it after the first bounce. The ball sailed down right at the net. It bounced into the edge at the top of the net and sailed onto the other side! A rare netball!

Naori's eyes widened and she dashed for the ball! But she was unfortunately not fast enough as the ball was already onto its second bounce. Naori frowned and prepared for the next shot. Ami served the ball again in the flattest way possible. Naori concentrated all her power in her racquet and her eyes remained on that spinning ball. It bounced way above her head, but Naori still smacked it anyways. In her horror, the ball sailed all the way out, out of Amui's reach, out of her area, and out of the court. A loud buzz sounded the end of that game. The game she just lost.

Naori glanced over at the scoreboard…a tie now. 4-4 She was going to have to go a bit more serious than usual in the later games. Amui was catching up already!

Amui gripped even tighter onto her handle. She could feel the ever-rising pressure emitting from Naori, intoxicating enough to spread a couple of yards to where she was positioned. The score was now even with each player holding four games. She was going to have to either win the next two games or go into the tiebreaker round.

Naori narrowed her eyes at her opponent and she started for the toss. She was about to start the game when her eyes suddenly widened from fear and her lips quivered a little. She halted right in the middle of her toss! Something felt wrong to her! She was feeling rising spiritual pressure coming from within the court itself! It can't be…

Hitsugaya opened his loudly beeping cell and noticed a couple of dots right where he was situated. _'Hollows?'_ Hitsugaya glanced around and saw that the normal humans seemed to have no idea of the impending danger. He glanced over at Amui and saw she was way too concentrated in the game to notice.

Naori quickly kicked her mind back into reality. She was still in the middle of a match and she had to play for the human spectators. The ball toss came back down and Naori served it as hard as possible into the diagonal box. But suddenly as if out of nowhere, a hollow popped up and swallowed that little tennis ball as if it were a flying meal!

That same hollow slowly turned around to Amui. She was shaking badly, too scared, that she couldn't even move her racquet. Her eyes were staring wide open at that horrible creature that just landed in front of her. The hollows eyes narrowed in glee and it lunged towards Amui with its mouth wide open, ready to eat her whole. Amui couldn't even make herself move away before the hollow could strike. She just stared at that blank stare in that hollows eyes as it lunged closer and closer to her.

"Move Shizumiya!" Hitsugaya shouted as he struck down that same hollow with his zanpakuto. He stabbed it hard into the hollow that it quickly vanished before it could get even closer to Amui.

Amui stared on wide-eyed at what just happened. What was she to do? Keep playing while Hitsugaya was slaughtering hollows? Should she warn the other people to get away before they're harmed? Amui stood in stand still at her place on the court, not even budging to move.

"Did you not hear me!?" Hitsugaya literally screamed at her. "Get away before-"

A loud sounding crash interrupted in the middle of his rant. He jerked his head back and saw even more hollows landing onto the playing courts. They started up high in the sky, but landed like a meteor falling from the sky. People started screaming in fright and panic and they all ducked under the bleachers, thinking maybe they were under attack. Hollows howled into the open air and their hungry eyes scanned throughout the area.

'_We're going to have to finish them off before they sense any spiritual pressure from the bystanders!'_ Hitsugaya abandoned Amui where she was and ran off to the large hordes of hollows. She was smart enough to know how to run away! He started going at the hollows all by himself, charging into the group with his zanpakuto ready to slash at them.

Naori saw her captain charging right at the hollows that were completely surrounding her! Naori quickly popped out of her gigai and drew out her zanpakuto. It was the size of a standard katana and not as long as her captain's, but it was long enough to keep hollows at double arm's length. She slashed through any hollows that were nearby and lunged out at the farther ones. Her short, black-blue hair flying around so crazy that it almost completely covered her golden eyes. She simply shut her eyes afterwards and slashed like crazy until she hit something like another zanpakuto.

"Naori! You're trying to kill hollows here!" Somebody yelled at her. Opening her eyes, she saw Hitsugaya's infuriated face with his zanpakuto crossed against hers.

"Oops." Naori sheepishly mumbled and released her grip against him. She saw something behind her approach and she leaped back to get it. Hitsugaya seemed to do the same thing and soon, they were back to back like those heroes in those movies. "So what do you suggest we do?" Naori asked with her zanpakuto raised to attack.

"Just kill them all off before they reach the bystanders." Hitsugaya ordered and his eyes narrowed at all the hollows surrounding them. "Make quick work of them so we can figure out who made such a disturbance."

Naori sighed and she focused all her attention onto the groups of hollows. Right at the same time, both of them leaped out into the groups to quickly dispatch the gathering hollows. Naori slashed through a bunch of them like cheese with her unreleased zanpakuto. She couldn't go into shikai or else, she would electrocute all the humans that happened to be around. Naori spotted a stray hollow going at the crowd of crouched down humans. Naori quickly ran up to that hollow and caught it's attention.

"Over here!!" Naori taunted and ran away. She couldn't let that hollow get any closer to them.

The hollow smiled wickedly and lunged at Naori, hungry for her natural spiritual pressure. Naori smirked and flew away, leading that stray hollow as far away from the bystanders as possible. She glanced forward and suddenly saw she was heading right at Amui, who was finally running off as fast as she could. Naori halted her speed in the middle of the sky and tried to change directions. But that same hollow was still moving forward.

Amui jerked her head around and saw a hollow lunging at her again. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. Her eyes widened in fear and her mouth stood in that same open form. Luckily, Hitsugaya suddenly appeared right in front of her and made quick work of the hollow before it could reach Amui.

"Quick! Get away!" His voice almost seemed worried and frantic when he told her that. His mind wondering why Naori would just let that hollow go after Amui.

Amui nodded and ran quickly away as far as possible. But still close enough to see what was going on. She knew she would be in the way if she stayed.

Hitsugaya growled something under his breath when he turned to face the hollow again. There were at least four packs of hollows that needed to be individually dispatched. He couldn't go into shikai without risking the humans to be frozen to an icicle. He already knew Naori would just electrocute everyone with her shikai. And there weren't enough shinigami to get rid of all the hollows and two shinigami would take a long time to dispatch them all and he couldn't guarantee all the humans safety. Calling in reinforcements would take too long. What was there to do?

Naori sliced through another hollow when she heard a frightened scream from one of the humans. A young woman was covering her head as she witnessed the bleachers being crushed under the strength of a hollows claw. Naori quickly shunpoed as fast as she could over there and stabbed through the hollow before it could go any further. There was definitely no way that they could get rid of these things and protect all these humans at the same time. Naori glanced all around and saw more stray hollows coming for the humans. Seriously, Karakura Town should put a plug on its huge spiritual pressure leaks.

Thinking of nothing else, Naori placed her hand behind her where the bleachers and the humans were. "Kyōmon!" Naori screamed out the first kido spell that came into her head. A mirror-like shield suddenly enveloped itself around the humans, completely protecting them. Nothing from the outside could break through.

Hitsugaya turned back and saw what Naori had done. "Naori!" He commanded and pointed at the kido barrier.

Naori sensed what he was going to do and she quickly nodded back in agreement. She jumped up high in the air and focused all her spiritual pressure in the palms of her hands. Her hands pointing directly at any places the humans were hiding. "Kyōmon!!" Naori commanded and released the spiritual pressure into the spots. They too formed mirror-like barriers around the designated areas like Naori had aimed for.

Noticing all the barriers were in place, Hitsugaya soon jumped high into the air with his zanpakuto raised above his head. "Sit upon the frozen heavens…Hyourinmaru!!" Hitsugaya swung down and a large ice dragon flew out of the tip of his zanpakuto.

"That can't be…" Amui mindlessly spoke in her place. "Is that…his power?"

The large ice dragon circled among the sky before lunging down before the hordes of hollows. It struck right at the center and froze everything within its icy vicinity. Hollows ceased to move and they soon were shattered like the ice that encased them. And luckily, the humans were left unharmed in the barriers. Amui also sensed the danger had passed and she also returned back to the court.

"Release!" Hitsugaya commanded and made all the mirror barriers that Naori put up disappear.

"Hitsugaya-taicho! Is everyone here okay?" Naori called out to him as she landed from the sky.

"Yes. It seems so." Hitsugaya spoke back and glanced back at a luckily unharmed Amui running up to him.

"Hitsugaya-kun! Is everything alright?" Amui asked.

Naori simply narrowed her eyes at her and she turned away to avoid Amui's gaze. She haughtily tucked her arms into the sleeves of her black uniform as if she was crossing her arms. Amui didn't seem to notice the rudeness as she gotten closer to the two.

"Everything's fine. Why'd you come back?" Hitsugaya asked.

"I had to see if everything's okay." Amui said. "Hitsugaya-kun…was that ice dragon thing…well…"

"Yes. That is my true power." Hitsugaya said gesturing to the zanpakuto on his back. "It's okay. Naori already put the barriers up so nothing, but the hollows, would accidentally be frozen."

"That's a relief." Amui said in a sigh. "I still wonder what caused all this commotion?"

"That's what I should be asking both of you two girls." Hitsugaya said with his tone a little irked at what was going to happen.

"WHAT!!?" Both girls shouted at the poor captain. "Are you pitting the blame on me!?"

"In a way yes." Hitsugaya coolly replied to both of their outbursts. "You! Naori!" He barked out and jutted his finger at her.

"Yes captain?" Naori responded in her most serious voice, sensing that yelling tone in her captain.

"You've been leaking out your spiritual pressure ever since Shizumiya's been catching up to you in the match. A high-seated officer like you should be able to control your spiritual pressure, but you were letting it all out. Did you ever notice that?" Hitsugaya questioned.

"No sir…my apologies…" Naori stammered, realizing her mistake.

Amui quietly held back her snickers since she was witnessing the funniest thing that could happen between Naori and Hitsugaya. Well…it was pretty funny to her.

"And you, Shizumiya! I wouldn't be laughing just yet!" Hitsugaya barked out at her, narrowing her eyes just the same.

"What now?" Amui coolly said.

"You've been releasing your spiritual pressure ever since the 2-1 score. I know you're just a human and all, but you've been leaking out so much that it was able to focus all the hollows attention to this place." Hitsugaya haughtily explained.

"Like you said, I'm just a human!" Amui exaggeratedly pointed out. "You think I can control what I possess?"

"I was expecting you to not exert so much in such a concentrated manner." Hitsugaya snapped back. "Right now, I know that the match caused the both of you to release huge amounts of spiritual energy and I think continuing any further will repeat the process again. Maybe with more disastrous results."

"Come on Hitsugaya-kun! You're exaggerating!" Amui commented in a carefree manner.

"No. He's right." Naori softly snapped at the girl. "I don't think we should continue the match any further."

"You too Hibana-san!!" Amui exclaimed since she had noticed Naori had really been getting into the game. "Well…okay I guess…"

"That's settled than. This match won't continue any further." Hitsugaya finalized. "I'm going to escort Shizumiya back to her home. She's probably still out of control with her spiritual pressure and hollows are probably going to come at her again. You stay here, Naori, and rewrite every single memory that's in this area."

"Hitsugaya-taicho…but-" Naori tried to say but only could watch her captain and Amui walking away from where the tennis matches were being held.

"Hitsugaya-kun. Are you okay?" Amui suddenly asked as they walked through the now silent town. She was strangely sensing something was up ever since that hollow attack at the tennis courts. Like he was a bit shaken up a little inside. Worried maybe.

"Nothing's wrong." Hitsugaya replied, not even meeting her eyes.

"No…" Amui flatly stated. "Something's wrong. What is it?"

"I said it's nothing!" Hitsugaya snapped at her and continued walking away.

'_Such a stubborn fool!'_ Amui pouted and ran up to catch up with him. "Stop walking so fast! Hitsugaya-" Something snapped. Her eyes widened and searing pain shot up from her leg. Amui stopped moving in her place and she collapsed into the ground.

"Shizumiya? Shizumiya!" Hitsugaya quickly ran back to her. "Hey! You okay?"

"Uhh…I think something's wrong with my ankle. I think it must have been from all that running Hibana-san gave me." Amui groaned and she grabbed onto her ankle.

Hitsugaya lifted her hands and inspected the injury. Her ankle was in fact swollen a little and turning a little black and blue. He should have brought Naori along with them. She could heal this in seconds. "Can you stand?" Hitsugaya asked.

Amui planted her hands into the ground and tried to push herself off the ground like a little baby deer. She was successful in getting on her feet, but she soon staggered and fell back down luckily landing in Hitsugaya's arms. _'Eh!!!'_ Amui cried in her thoughts and blushed at the situation. She quickly pushed herself away from him, but ended up falling back down onto the ground.

"I guess you can stand." Hitsugaya said, watching Amui staggering back onto her feet.

"Yeah, but my ankle still hurts." Amui complained, now limping on her good foot.

Hitsugaya glanced at how swollen her injury had already gotten. She would need to put a lot of ice on that in order to ease all that pain. Maybe he could help that just a little… "Here." Hitsugaya murmured, holding out an ice flower for her.

"Uh…" Amui stared dumbfounded at the flower. It completely was made of ice and for some reason; it showed no signs of melting. "Hitsugaya-kun…I don't think a flower is appropriate for this situation."

"Look again! It's an ice pack." Hitsugaya almost shouted at her, being a little pissed off at how simple-minded Amui can be. "It has a special kido barrier around it so it can't melt away."

"And it's in a shape of a flower." Amui added.

A popping vein sprouted on his forehead. "If you want an ice blob, I can fix that." Hitsugaya threatened and he drew the flower back away from Amui.

Amui slowly reached out and grabbed for his hand with her hands encasing the ice flower as well. Both of them holding onto the very same flower. Connecting. "I like it better this way." Amui happily said in a smile.

She came around the corner and saw them. Bright eyes turned dull and her hand falling senseless. A dozen white petals floating through the empty darkness. One falling onto calm waters and sounding ripples spreading throughout. _'Fool…she is…better off…'_

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Now…this is a little random. Why didn't I go with the classic piggyback when the girl is injured? Simple. One: Way too overused and sappy for me. Two: I simply don't like it. Three: Keep in mind Hitsugaya is still in shinigami form and is invisible to the human eye. Four: I just simply don't like it. Five: I had nothing else to say at the end of this chapter.

_Oh, and the person in the last paragraph is Naori. Just if you guys didn't catch that._

_Anyways, review!!!!_


	14. Festivals

_I have gotten many reviews!! Thanks to you guys!! Though most of them were about how much people hate Amui and love Naori…I think I got the message by now, ya know!! And for those very worried reviewers, you're going to have to read on and on as I update to see if there is Naori/Hitsugaya. I can't spoil anything! Also, for those who don't know: A yukata is basically a kimono worn during summer and hot days._

_So…things got pretty riled up the last chapter. Very actiony over there. Hoped you enjoyed it…and…enjoy this chapter also!!_

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Festivals

Friday marked the end of school. After a week of school were the weekends. In the weekend to come, a very special event was coming forth. A special event for everyone in Karakura Town.

Naori sat back at her apartment, finishing up what was the last of her daily reports. She scratched her ink pen across at least a dozen of pages, her tiny handwriting barely visible on the white pages. Once in a while, she would stretch and maybe rub her eyes a little. It was definitely hard to write a report in the dark light and on a coffee table. Naori was really feeling her gigai was falling asleep on her!

She glanced over at a clock nearby. It was almost five o' clock. Someone should be coming over to pick up her reports already. She was finished anyway, so her paperwork was done for the day. Naori got up, glancing over at the bedside table where _that_ book sat. She had read it nonstop and finally, she was done reading it last night at midnight! Usually, she would be done in a month with a book as huge as that.

Naori moved her vision to her nearby calendar. She didn't realize it was the weekend already! The week seemed to pass by so fast, especially those days leading up to the tennis match. But now it was the weekend and unfortunately, Naori had nothing planned to do unlike her captain. She remembered clearly what was going on at noon.

"_Hitsugaya-taicho? Are you going somewhere?" Naori asked out her front window. It was noon and it was beating hot! Her captain didn't seem to mind as he slipped outside in a black shirt and dark jeans._

"_Shizumiya called me to come meet with her." Hitsugaya grumbled, scratching the back of his head. He must have overslept again._

_Naori paused for a second, only staring at her captain in plain doubt. "Hey…Hitsugaya-taicho…" She trailed off._

"_What is it?" Hitsugaya stopped with what he was doing and glanced back at Naori, just as serious._

"_Amui Shizumiya…that girl…" Naori darkly mumbled. "Is she a bit troublesome to you?"_

"_Well…" Hitsugaya trailed off in his answer. Some part of Naori wasn't feeling right at the moment. He paused for a while before answering again. "At times, maybe."_

_"But she wasn't even a part of our mission until you let her in. She was already troublesome then and now, she's just a pest!" Naori insisted. "Do you know what she even has to do in this mission? Why are you siding with her?"_

_"Sorry Naori. But I really can't talk to you right now. She's been waiting for a long time." Hitsugaya called back, walking down the stairs. "Maybe soon, some other time."_

Naori squeezed her pillow tighter to her body and tucked her knees even closer. Her eyes stared down at her toes, staring into plain open space. 'What a jerk.' Naori mused on in her head. She couldn't scream it out loud; she never was the type to scream in anger. But right now, she wished she could. Maybe she should try venting it in. That is…if it means throwing a pillow as hard as you can at a random wall.

Naori grabbed her squeezed up pillow and chucked it as hard as she could at the wall. The pillow sailed high and very fast across the room just as someone unlocked a gate at the exact spot the pillow flew through. A huge plop could be heard and a familiar figure approached the open doorways.

"Mhhmmmhmm!!" The newcomer muffled through the pillow before pulling it off her face. "Naori-chan!! Is this how you treat your lieutenant?" Matsumoto loudly exclaimed.

Naori froze up in shock for a second and right after, she exploded. "I'm so sorry!! Matsumoto-fukutaicho!!" She exclaimed, continuously bowing down. "I didn't mean to hit you with a pillow! I didn't think you were going to come at that spot! I didn't even think you were coming at all. I'm sorry! Please forgive me, Matsumoto-fukutaicho!"

Matsumoto mused on the thought for a second, scaring Naori almost to death. She then smiled and gently patted Naori on the shoulder. "It's okay! As long as you didn't mean it!" Matsumoto enthusiastically said.

Naori relaxed a little after that, knowing her paycheck wasn't going to get cut.

Matsumoto leisurely observed Naori's apartment, walking in and around it occasionally. "You live in a nice place Naori-chan." Matsumoto observed. "Though I thought you and the captain where going to share a room at Orihime's."

"Don't come to such nonsense conclusions." Naori coldly and calmly replied back at Matsumoto.

"Come on Naori-chan! There's no need to get so worked up!" Matsumoto cheerfully exclaimed. "So where are the reports I'm supposed to pick up?"

"They're on the table." Naori gestured over to her coffee table that sat right in front of her TV. She then pointed at the package in Matsumoto's arms. "Is that the thing that I asked for?" Naori asked.

"Yep! Though Kurotsuchi-taicho was a bit reluctant to hand it over. Also, he's been researching that entity you're supposed to destroy. Here's all the research material. " Matsumoto said, handing it all over to Naori. Afterwards, Matsumoto snapped back to her lazy side and she collapsed onto Naori's bed. "Hey Naori-chan!" Matsumoto asked, lazily kicking her feet. "Where's the captain right now?"

"He's…" Naori stopped. She, in fact, didn't know where Hitsugaya was. "He's with some human. I don't know where he is actually."

"Wait! Hold on!" Matsumoto shot right up from the bed. "You mean to tell me that Hitsugaya-taicho's been spending time with a human girl!"

"Well yes-"

"And he never told me about it!? Who knew his hormones would finally kick in! I'm going to have a chit-chat with him once he gets back." Matsumoto haughtily said, wagging her finger at every word.

"But Matsumoto-fukutaicho-"

"So when is Hitsugaya-taicho coming back? I need to report back to the office soon." Matsumoto turned towards Naori.

"I don't know…" Naori softly answered. "But I know it's not going to be before you leave, Matsumoto-fukutaicho."

"Hmm…okay than." Matsumoto concluded. "Just find him and tell him I said hello…and there's ten huge towers of paperwork for him to do."

"But I don't know where he is." Naori complained.

"Okay then… lets see…how to find the captain…" Matsumoto peered around the room until she landed on the calendar that hung on Naori's wall. She slowly walked up to it and placed her finger on the current date. "I remember something! Today's a festival celebration! Maybe Captain's over at the festival! You can definitely start by looking there. I think the festival's just started anyways!"

Naori stared at the date on her calendar. Just how did she not know that there was a festival today? Those local ones with circles of people dancing, food stalls, and game stalls. Maybe it's because she never really paid much attention to the local news. Anyways, she needed to get over there to Hitsugaya. It's very important to both of them. "Alright, I'll go over there right now." Naori announced and started for her door.

"Stop right there!!!" Matsumoto commanded and Naori suddenly froze in place.

"Huh? What is it, Matsumoto-fukutaicho?" Naori tiredly asked.

"You're not going to the festival in that, are you?" Matsumoto asked, gesturing to Naori's clothing.

"Yeah…I guess…" Naori shrugged off as if it were nothing.

"No! You got to dress appropriately for events such as this! You have to wear a yukata!" Matsumoto insisted.

"But-"

"No buts! I got the perfect yukata for you back in Soul Society!" Matsumoto exclaimed, heading back for the gateway. "I'll bring it back in a jiff and I'll dress you up so nice, Captain's face will drop at your cuteness!"

"Matsumoto-fukutaicho!! I'm sorry, but I don't have the time to dress up!" Naori complained.

"Don't move! If I sense any of your spiritual pressure disappear from this room, I'll come back and restrain you with Kido!" Matsumoto quickly said and she disappeared through the gateway.

'Hitsugaya-taicho was right. It is in through one ear and out the other with her.' Naori thought with a humorous sweat drop sliding down the back of her head. She appreciated the thought of Matsumoto wanting to dress her up, but Naori would never care in the first place so there was no point for it.

Suddenly, the gateway opened yet again and Matsumoto popped out with a bunch of stuff in her hands. "I'm back!" Matsumoto announced and dropped the stuff onto the floor.

'That was quick!' Naori's eyes widened in sheer surprise and shock.

"Okay! Let's start!" Matsumoto rolled up the sleeves of her uniform and menacingly headed for Naori with her backing up against the wall.

"W-Wait!" Naori stammered.

Matsumoto's eyes glinted and she happily pulled Naori into the bathroom. After a couple of shoving, pushing, yelling, the door rattling a bit, and constant sounds of swapping clothes, Naori was then popped out of the bathroom wearing an entirely new outfit. Naori felt her face go red since the yukata was unfortunately placed on a bit too loose, especially around the chest area.

"Pretty good…" Matsumoto mumbled, observing with keen interest. Surprisingly, her old yukata fits Naori perfectly. A light green yukata with blue flowers scattered all along the right side with a hint of gold stems and leaves to decorate it was perfect for her! The dark rich purple obi tightly wrapped around her waist perfectly and the shoes also fit as well. But still…something was off…

Naori felt her face fall flat. "Can I go now?" She plainly asked.

"I got it!" Matsumoto snapped her fingers and reached out for a brush and comb. "I got to fix your hair! You wear those beads and barrette way too much!"

"But I like them!" Naori whined. But that proved to be a fail since Matsumoto was already grabbing at her hair. Soon in a couple of minutes, Naori felt her shoulder length hair disappear somewhere on her head. Wait! They were just tied to the side of her head and teased out so it would look like some kind of firework exploding hair.

"I think that wraps it up!" Matsumoto said, satisfied and smiling. "Just look how cute you are right now!! Hitsugaya-taicho will love it!"

"I'm sure he will…" Naori nervously said, hoping the dress-up will end there.

"Well! I have to get back to the office and start on that fourth jar of sake!" Matsumoto said and she headed back to the gateway to Soul Society. "Have fun at the festival!"

Naori gently smiled and she waved good-bye to the lieutenant, though silently counting the seconds till that gateway closed. Once it finally did, Naori quickly got her things together to go to the festival. She grabbed for her purse, her gikongon, and maybe some extra change if she got hungry. Naori was about to head out the door when she spotted the package she ordered from the 12th Division. She'll need to bring that as well.

Naori quickly ran out of her apartment and down to the streets and to the nearby festival. Her sandals made it hard to run and it felt like she could trip at any moment. Naori finally managed to get to the festival without messing up her yukata. It looked like quite the joyous celebration with many people dancing around the fire and many others in yukata trying out the stands. Naori looked both left and right, trying to find her captain, and she quickly dashed down the stalls of the festival, just as Hitsugaya and Amui arrived at the same spot.

"Hitsugaya-kun? Why didn't you buy a yukata at that store?" Amui asked as she knelt down to see the masks.

"I'm not wearing something so formal to something so silly as this." Hitsugaya snidely said, not even glancing down at Amui.

"Well I think the yukata I got is simply the best! Don't you think so too?" Amui exclaimed, feeling like twirling around in her new yukata. It was an icy blue yukata with white stripes running down the side and a royal blue obi to tie it all in. Amui also tied up part of her hair into a bun and the rest; she let flowing all the way down to her waist.

"What are you talking about? You made me choose through your big pile of yukatas to get that one." Hitsugaya remarked.

"Oh Hitsugaya-kun. Lighten up!" Amui cheerfully said. "It's the festival and you're supposed to have fun."

Hitsugaya scoffed under his breath, got up from his leaning position, and dragged Amui away with her arm. "Whatever. Just enjoy whatever you want for today. I don't have time to be screwing around like this."

"As uptight as ever." Amui mumbled under her breath and slanted her eyes away from Hitsugaya. "Let's play a few games first and then, get something to eat."

"Whatever." A usual answer came out of Hitsugaya with a slight sign of him rolling his eyes.

Amui simply smiled. She was getting pretty used to that usual uncaring attitude of Hitsugaya. Even though he was acting like he didn't care and wished he had stayed home, deep inside he thinks completely differently. It just takes a little push to bring that sweet side of him out.

Amui started with the goldfish-scooping stall. She had a lot of fun, but the little net kept breaking so much that Hitsugaya had to step in and help. He was getting at least fifteen fishes with just one net and all in the while, commenting Amui on how slow and inexperienced she was. Amui simply made a face back and took one of the caught fishes in the bag home. Suddenly, she ran to a nearby gun shooting stall and let her eyes wander all over the prize walls, especially the first prizes.

"You want a prize?" Hitsugaya asked, glancing over at all the big stuffed animals.

"Not really…hey!" Amui frantically tried to make a grab for Hitsugaya, who was already on his way to the stall. Unfortunately, he was still too fast for her.

"Can I try shooting the cans?" Hitsugaya asked the vendor.

"Hitsugaya-kun!" Amui shouted and pulled him back over. "I didn't say I want you to win one for me!"

"Just shut up and watch." Hitsugaya curtly replied and removed his arm from Amui's grip. He walked back up to the vendor and grabbed one of the handguns.

"Hitsugaya-kun!!!"

BAM! Hitsugaya already shot down an entire pyramid of cans with one shot of the handgun he was using. A big flashing sign for the winner popped up out of nowhere and the vender was clapping in awe. Many people, including Amui, stared at him in surprise, thinking how someone could just have an instant win at that game. And only with a tiny handgun too!!

"Congratulations!! You've won first prize!" The vendor said in a seemingly happy voice. "You can have a pick from our first prize gallery! Maybe you like something for your lady friend! We got-"

"I'll take that thing." Hitsugaya bluntly said and pointed at something in the back.

The vendor smiled and produced a huge stuffed white bear. A snowy white bear that could even be bigger than Hitsugaya himself! Though that didn't seem to be a problem as Hitsugaya grabbed the bear by the hairs on it's head and dragged it to Amui.

"Here." He roughly said and tossed it at Amui.

"Umm…thanks, I guess?" Amui partially stammered out, mostly out of confusion. "Why…did you?"

"What? Do you not like what I just won for you? Or were you thinking of something else?" Hitsugaya questioned, effectively putting her on the spot.

"Well no-I mean yes!! I mean-ah!!" Amui cried out and frantically swung her arms around, making Hitsugaya slightly chuckle. Amui relaxed and replied in a tired voice, "Don't ask two questions at the same time, Hitsugaya-kun. It gets so confusing!"

Hitsugaya shrugged her off. "Not my fault." He plainly said to her, but she was already heading towards another stall.

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes at her. If there were one thing to compare her to Matsumoto, it would be the fact that they never listen and the hair. Amui seemed like she would be taking a long time at that stall so he simply just let his eyes wander off around him. Looking around, he saw a bunch of little kids running around, some of them he knew from playing soccer once. He saw Ichigo and Rukia, arguing as usual, no surprise there. He then caught a flash of green and blue running through the crowds. Green being the yukata and blue being the hair.

Naori felt herself next to complete exhaustion after running at least ten laps around. In those entire ten laps, she didn't even spot a single white spiky head. It's not that hard since it basically sticks out of the crowd like Ichigo. Naori was about to pass the gun and can stall when she finally spotted him. Hitsugaya stood all alone, his hands crossed against his chest, maybe not even realizing she was there. Naori was about to approach him when some people moved aside, revealing Amui behind them all.

Naori's pace gradually decreased to the point she was mindlessly walking to them. She didn't know whether to act now or just let the both of them have their fun. But what she was going for is really important concerning the future of the mission. Yet, both of them were looking so happy with their time together…Naori shook her head to bits, washing away all those doubts. She had to do this now!

Hitsugaya stood there, partially amused by Amui and her crazy encounter with the vendor that sold candy apples. Amui kept rambling on about how the vendor kept screwing up her order and was nervously fumbling around. Hitsugaya then felt a presence behind him and turned around. "Naori?" He asked, a little surprised.

Naori stood there with her most serious look on and her eyes looked somewhat dull, lifeless, and dark. "Hitsugaya-taicho. We need to talk." She darkly stated.

Sensing she really meant business, Hitsugaya went with her with no questions.

Amui watched as Naori and Hitsugaya were walking away from her and into the nearby park. "Hitsugaya-kun!" She started calling out.

"Alone!" Naori cut her off and continued walking away.

"Eh!" Amui stuttered out. What made that girl suddenly snap at her? She just wanted Hitsugaya to have a candy apple she bought for him.

Naori led him farther and farther into the nearby park. Far enough that the only lights were the overhanging lamps above them. Soon, it became only the two of them walking through the eerie park. The only sounds echoing through it were the wooden sandals Naori was walking on. Then, she suddenly stopped under the dangling light of a lamppost with her back to him.

Hitsugaya stopped after her, his mind wondering what could be so important. "Well. Why do you want to talk to me?" He asked.

Naori slowly turned around. She dully stared directly into his eyes and her lips only shaped a frown. "Hitsugaya-taicho…" She mumbled, her light voice having a sharp edge to it.

"What is it?" Hitsugaya asked, not even a little put off.

Naori bit her lips and spoke again. "Hitsugaya-taicho…it's time we end this mission."

_

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_

Nothing else I can say. Naori is probably going to do something the next chapter since Hitsugaya will probably demand an explanation. That's a little sneak peek into the next chapter. Hope I'm not spoiling anything.

_Anyways, review and I'll update!!!!_


	15. Slipping Away

_Um…I got like a bunch of chapters all typed up and I'm probably going to update weekly from now on. Maybe monthly if schoolwork gets the better of me. Anyways, it's about time I picked up the pace in this story, as you will see when you are almost finished with this authors note. Did you know that this sentence really says nothing, but you have to read it to the very end, which is around here?_

_This is the officially the hardest chapter I ever had to write._

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Slipping Away

Hitsugaya frowned at her. "Naori…what nonsense are you talking about?"

"We're ending this mission tonight." Naori simply said, her seemly innocent eyes shining a dull color. "The mission will end and tomorrow, we can go back home to Soul Society."

Hitsugaya observed the girl in front of him. Something felt so off and slightly wrong about her. "Naori Hibana. What do you mean by that?"

Naori sighed. "Really. Do I have to explain it all to you?" She asked.

Hitsugaya nodded and gestured for her to continue. But his foot somehow felt that it should turn around and run off as fast as possible.

Naori glanced down onto the little pouch she had been holding on and casually fidgeted around with it. "You know that the entity we have been trying to eliminate is still out there and still carrying a lot of spiritual pressure." She explained while keeping her eyes and head down.

"Yes…go on…" Hitsugaya kept his face unchanging but inside, he felt as if he were going to choke.

"It carries so much spiritual pressure. About to five captains combined maybe. Also, I got some more reports from Kurotsuchi-taicho that all that spiritual pressure is always on a constant release and inhabits the human body as a container. Nothing good will come out of this mission if the entity is still alive. If the entity is still alive, no progress will be made and the spiritual pressure leaks will provoke hollows to continue attacking this area. Which is why-" Naori lifted her face and stared at Hitsugaya straight into the eyes. "Which is why, I'm going to kill her and drain every bit of spiritual pressure out of her body."

Silence. Only a single heartbeat of silence.

"Wha-What are you saying?" Hitsugaya demanded.

"Did you not hear me?" Naori casually shifted her weight to her other foot, leaning back.

"No. I heard you just fine. What I don't understand is why?" Hitsugaya said, worried feelings drifting closer to the tone of his voice. Of course he didn't understand. For some reason, the girl standing right in front of him felt entirely different now.

"This entity is an obstacle and this mission needs to be completed. Obstacles are to be taken out. It's the most practical thing to do." Naori simply answered.

"No! It's the dumbest thing to do!" Hitsugaya was literally screaming at her. "Why would you even think of coming down to this?" He paused in his rant and searched through the air. Somebody's spiritual pressure was missing!

"What's the problem?" Naori lightly answered.

"Her spiritual pressure…I can't sense it anymore…" Hitsugaya darkly mumbled. "Haruka Ayumishi spiritual pressure! The entity's spiritual pressure! Where did it go?" His eyes widened slightly in realization afterwards.

Naori continued to stare at her captain with her lifeless, unblinking eyes. Her hands clenching over her hanging pouch full of her stuff and more. Her fingers were constantly fiddling with the opening.

"Don't tell me…" Hitsugaya gasped. "Don't tell me you already killed her?"

A long pause of silence. Hitsugaya didn't break his glares at Naori and Naori kept a simply straight face. The wind blew by them, ruffling up Naori's light green yukata ad her hair. It blew through Hitsugaya's spiky, snowy-white hair and his dark collar on his shirt, making them waver for a bit.

"Don't be silly Hitsugaya-taicho." Naori answered. "I did not kill her. I can see that she's alive and well."

She pointed off at the distance. Hitsugaya whipped his head back and saw a familiar light haired girl walking across their path with a couple of friends. She was happily smiling and waving around her new prize from those children games. They continued to walk their path, not even stopping to notice Naori and Hitsugaya, and continued their way out of sight.

"You see. She is not dead." Naori pointed out to her captain.

"What happened to her? She's an ordinary human now." Hitsugaya uttered.

"While I was patrolling over her, I performed a small test with her and found out she had no more spiritual pressure within her body. She reverted back to being a simple little human. And from the reports I gained from Kurotsuchi-taicho, it seems like that spiritual pressure can be transferred from one person to another." Naori reported. "Haruka Ayumishi is not the target anymore."

"Then who is?" Hitsugaya demanded.

Naori closed her eyes and gently opened them again. "I figured you'd already know." She said.

Hitsugaya's eyes widened again, this time in fear. "It can't be…Amui…"

Naori nodded. "It is…and I'm going to kill her and drain every bit of her spiritual pressure. The natural balance between the world of the living and Soul Society won't be disturbed that way. You see this?" Naori finally reached into the opening of her pouch and took out a strange, blob-like syringe. It was a dark blue color and purple, transparent layers were lying on parts of that thing.

Hitsugaya glanced at the object in her hands, his memories slowly coming back to him. It looked quite familiar like it came from the 12th Division labs. And then, it hit him right in the head. "You-You got that?"

"Yes." Naori quietly said, lifting up her strange device. "A reproduced subject of the Bount research material. This thing, in my hand, was once used by the Bounts to suck spiritual pressure from humans and feed their own bodies. Now I'm going to use it to be rid of her. Her blood will soon be on my blade."

"Forget it!" Hitsugaya shouted and stood in her path, the path of a cold-blooded killer. The path the other _her_ followed.

"You're not going to help?" Naori questioned.

"Of course not, you idiot! This entire plan of yours goes completely out of law." Hitsugaya said, angrily clenching his teeth. " What good will it do? You, out of all people, should know that it's against rules to kill an innocent human! No matter what sin they commit when they are alive, a shinigami like you can never kill them! No matter what!"

"But she is not a human. She is the new entity. Our orders were to eliminate such a creature. I see no problem." Naori calmly and lightly answered.

"You moron! What are you thinking!?" Hitsugaya exclaimed. "I'm your captain and I order you not to lay your blade on her! Understand!"

Naori's eyes widened in surprise and her mouth slightly dropped open in shock. "Hitsugaya-taicho…"

Hitsugaya nodded and stood in his place, continuing to prevent her from advancing.

"Why? Why?" Naori gripped onto the sides of her arms, her heart withering in pain of his revelation. "Why? Why would you protect a human girl like her!?"

Hitsugaya stayed completely calm while he could clearly see Naori almost on the brink of breaking down. "I have my reasons…and you…you have no reasoning."

"Why are you protecting her? Answer me!" Naori demanded, her voice rising every second. "She wasn't even a part of our mission until you let her in! She was already troublesome then and now she's just a pest! Why are you siding with her?"

"Hibana!" Hitsugaya barked out, silencing the girl.

Naori shook and shivered with her hands clenching so hard on her arms that it could break them at any moment. She couldn't believe it. He called her by her last name! He never called her in such a formal matter.

"Hibana. I choose to keep Shizumiya alive." Hitsugaya stated.

"Why… Just why are you doing this to her?" Naori darkly asked. "You're going to protect her? Even if she's a human?"

"That's right." Hitsugaya finalized.

"How could you? Hitsugaya-taicho…" Naori darkly whispered. "Then please, just tell me this…why are you disobeying Yamamoto-taicho's orders? At least tell me that."

"Orders? What orders?" Hitsugaya dove deep into his thoughts, trying to remember any personal meetings with the head captain.

"That order. The day when I told you to come back home when you were doing classroom chores. Yamamoto-taicho wanted to talk to you. He wanted to tell you…" Naori bit her lips once more before continuing. "He wanted to tell you…to remember to not get too close with the entity or it will be harder to _eliminate in the future_."

A pause wavered between them for only a few seconds.

"The head captain said that…I see…" Hitsugaya closed his eyes and thought for a second. He knew there was a better way to deal with the situation. A way that didn't include any innocent bloodshed like what she was thinking right now. "It doesn't matter. I shall see that Shizumiya will be and stay alive."

"You're going to disobey the head captain's orders!!" Naori exclaimed. "Why captain? Why are you disobeying orders? Why!? This is not like you!"

"I'm sorry Hibana. But that's the way I want things to happen. But you'll see in time." Hitsugaya calmly said.

Naori froze. She stood there, staring into the empty space that had been the sharp eyes of her captain. Her gaping mouth slowly formed back into a mouth speaking words. "Oh I see now." She stated back. "That girl somehow twisted your mind into being like this. That has to be it! I know Hitsugaya-taicho would never disobey an order!"

"Hibana Naori?" Hitsugaya observed the girl and her actions. Her shaking resumed again and her dull eyes widened to the point her entire iris could be seen. She had a cracked smile on and her words came out as a jumble. Like she had slipped into the depths of insanity. He had never known she could go this far!

"I will kill her and free you from her!!" Naori happily proclaimed.

"No Hibana! You're misunderstanding!" Hitsugaya exclaimed, trying to reason with the insane girl.

"I will kill her! She will die!" Naori smiled wickedly as she yelled that out.

'_She's completely lost it!'_ Hitsugaya frantically thought. He knew she couldn't be saved now. Her head was already so messed up that there was no return now. "Is that so…" Hitsugaya quietly whispered and Naori immediately stopped laughing like crazy.

"What is it?" Naori asked.

Hitsugaya turned his back to her and started to walk away. "If this is your path, than consider me as your obstacle."

Silence stood for only a second.

"Hitsugaya-taicho…this can't be…" Naori whispered with a single teardrop running down her cheeks before she was shouting again. "You let your mind be twisted by that girl! You disobey direct orders! And now, you're walking away from me! What is happening to you!? Answer me!!"

He gave no answer. He just continued walking down the path leading back to the festival.

"Don't walk away from me! Come back and answer me!" Naori yelled at him, tightening her yukata. "How could you!? Not following orders! Abandoning subordinates! How could you!!? How could you?!! I'll hate you forever for this! Get back! Get back here!! If you take another step, _I'll kill you too!!_"

He didn't even look back to glance at her and her form of insanity. To him, she was just the empty shell of her former self. He didn't even change the pace of his walking.

"People like you!! People who don't follow the rules! People who abandon their friends! People who leave them broken! Leaving them betrayed!!" Naori yelled as tears streamed down her face. "It's people like you **THAT** **ARE BETTER OFF DEAD!!!!!!**"

At that moment, Hitsugaya picked it up and just ran as fast as possible.

Naori just stood there, with her mental state slowly crumbling away, and her anger released at full. She yelled so loud that a large amount of her spiritual pressure had burst through and it blasted off a couple of lights nearby. After, she fell down on her knees and just stared down into the ground with those dead eyes of hers.

Hitsugaya could notice lights being shorted out all around him and hear an explosion somewhere behind him. He bolted through the park as fast as his gigai can bring him, not even glancing back over. She really had lost it and there's probably no turning back. He never knew her mental state was that fragile. That didn't matter now. What mattered was getting to Amui before _she_ did.

Meanwhile, Naori slowly lifted her head back up. Her face was almost unrecognizable from the dark. She got back onto her feet and slowly made her way down the path back to the festival. Her hands were hanging down lifeless on the side of her body and her feet were moving in ghostly strides. She was going to kill that girl. No matter what.

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Yeah…you people are probably going to kill me for this. Or you're going to rant in your review and hate me forever. Or you're going to throw pancakes at me… Either way, they're all painful.

_But this is a drama story, as noted by genre at top of page, and in drama, conflict and twists need to happen. As you can see, Naori is crazy. Probably had that figured out by the time you read this or any of the previous chapters. I had a very hard time writing this chapter of Naori "snapping and breaking and going crazy." I had to re-watch Elfen Lied and parts of Shuffle! to get the psychology down. I also started watch Higurashi as well._

_Also, sorry for the chapter being so short. I usually don't write this little, but this chapter is mostly the conversation between Hitsugaya and Naori and her going crazy. The next ones are very…action-y. Did I mention Naori is crazy?_

_Review!!!!! And I shall update the next epic chapter!! Don't hate me!!!!_


	16. Insanity

_These couples of chapters are going to be pretty…short because I had this entire thing all typed out and ready to edit when I just noticed the size of this entire document! Yes, a whole ten+ chapters long! Since I mostly add stuff during editing, I don't want to make it any longer so I snapped the darn thing in half! _

_Also since no one is flaming me...I guess it's safe for these chapters to come out._

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Insanity

"Hitsugaya-kun? What happened?" Amui asked as the familiar figure approached her.

He really didn't look all right to her, maybe even worse. From the outside, he looked calm, cool, and collected as usual. In the inside, there showed a tiny glint of fear.

"Nothing happened." Hitsugaya simply answered and quickly grabbed her hand, dragging her back into the festival.

"What do you mean by nothing happened?" Amui demanded, though without resisting. "The street lights in the park shorted out and you came back alone. Did you lose Hibana-san on your way back?"

"Don't worry. She knows her way around." Hitsugaya said, letting go of her hand once they made it back to the crowds of the festival.

"Really." Amui mused on in light thoughts. "I hope she can get around safely. It gets really dark and scary and dangerous whenever the lights are out."

"I'm sure she's going to be alright. She's a tough girl." Hitsugaya said with a somewhat fake smile. Of course he couldn't tell Amui what fate will come to her. But he wanted to make sure she could keep her smile in the end.

"Ok! I believe you." Amui smiled and gave a casual shrug and started to walk towards another stand. "Let's play a couple of more games before leaving! Oh! And I also want to dance around the bonfire!"

Hitsugaya agreed. He wanted to keep her here as long as possible before everyone else left and they would leave with the crowd. That way, she couldn't attack without harming innocent civilians. But it was still too soon to leave. Good thing Hitsugaya managed to put up a barrier around the festival area to keep her out for the time being.

Amui tried to pick up one of the balloons from a pool of water. She failed and made a face at the vendor. She paid and failed again. The kids were all laughing at her while she looked quite embarrassed.

She really was an innocent girl, a little annoying, but still had no wrong doings. Hitsugaya mused on that thought of Amui. He really wondered what Amui did to Naori to make her like that. Pure jealousy maybe? No…that can't be it.

"Hey Hitsugaya-kun! Hey!" Amui snapped her fingers in front of his face.

"What?" Hitsugaya grumbled.

"What's wrong with you? You're a little out of it today." Amui asked and knelt down to pick up her dropped mask. "How do you like my new mask I bought?"

"It makes you look like an ogre." Hitsugaya sarcastically answered and snapped the mask onto her face.

Amui flung her arms up in surprise and she fumbled around to try and get the mask off. It took some tries, but she managed to get it off in the end. Furious, Amui slapped Hitsugaya in the arm with the same mask.

"Don't ever do that!" Amui whined. "You almost scared me!"

"You're just too easy." Hitsugaya smartly remarked back.

"Grr… One of these days…" Amui growled, a little irritated of course. She suddenly loosened up and started walking away down the path of stalls.

"Where are you going now?" Hitsugaya asked.

"I want to go to this fun place!" Amui lightheartedly replied while continuing to walk down that path that led out of the festival grounds.

"What are you talking about? It's best that you stay here." Hitsugaya demanded, feeling a little worried about the fact she was almost out of the barrier.

"Come on! It's going to be fun! I swear!" Amui nudged him to walk with her and made her way even further down the path.

Feeling a little uneasy, he still went with her. He couldn't really tell her about a certain problem, but Amui seemed a bit too happy right now to keep her quarantined. And they already broken through the barrier and were already heading even further down the park! Down to the part where the furthest visible lights were the lights of the festival. It's going to get pretty dangerous! With any luck, Hitsugaya might just be able to seal the entire area off.

Amui giddily made her way even further down the path and momentarily stopped to rest by a tree on a hill. Hitsugaya quickly ran up the hill to confront her.

"Ok. What do you want here?" He demanded in a strict tone.

Amui blankly stared at him like she was a bit lost. Then, she let out a tiny gasp and shook her head around. Rubbing her head a little, Amui glanced up again to see Hitsugaya glaring down on her. "What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"What do you mean by what do I mean by that?" Hitsugaya angrily snapped back.

"Why are you mad at me all of a sudden?" Amui snapped back in her usual fashion, but she paused a little to look around at her surroundings. "Hitsugaya-kun? Why are you and I in the park? Why aren't we in the festival?"

"What are you talking about? You said you wanted to come here." Hitsugaya stated.

"When did I say that?" Amui sarcastically replied. "I seriously don't remember saying I wanted to go to the park. All I remember is buying this mask here! See!" She showed the mask that was strapped onto the side of your head.

"But-But you were walking me here by yourself and you don't remember!" Hitsugaya said in surprise. "Then that has to mean…snap! Run for it!" He frantically shouted at her.

Amui turned it him, partially surprised from his outbursts. "What are you…?" She managed to gasp out before feeling something cold on her neck.

A shadow landed right behind her, dressed completely in black clothing and a sword being held out to Amui's neck. Her face completely hidden by the darkness of the night, but her golden eyes, though still dull, shone with a killing intent. Amui didn't move, she didn't even try to move, she didn't know if she should move. She stood still and shaken as the figure slowly landed behind her with a hand pressing on her shoulder.

"Die." She said in an eerie voice and began to draw her sword back against Amui's neck.

Amui felt the cold sword slightly slide on her neck and the next thing she felt was Hitsugaya ramming her into the ground. She stumbled backwards and rolled down the hill until she hit the concrete road. Struggling to get back up on her feet, and getting a few scrapes on her legs, Amui frantically glanced up at the hill where the two stood. Hitsugaya was already in his shinigami form with his blade locked against Naori's. They both stared intensively at each other, as both of them were not willing to lose. And also, Naori looked slightly different somehow.

"Hitsugaya-kun! Hibana-san?" Amui gasped at the sight.

"Get her out of here! Now!" Hitsugaya yelled back.

"What-What do you-" Amui began to argue back, but she felt someone tug her back and forced her to run.

"This way." Hitsugaya's gigai directed and dragged her away till neither of them was in sight.

"I should have known." Hitsugaya growled as he slid his blade along hers in a menacing way. "I should have known that you've been controlling her brain impulses and lured her out here."

"Move out of the way." Naori coldly said and pushed forward on her blade.

"Last chance Hibana." Hitsugaya warned and countered her force. "Give up trying to kill her and leave peacefully."

"I'm not changing my mind." She replied.

"Then you'll just have to get through me to get to her." Hitsugaya declared and pushed her away with sheer force.

Naori stumbled back a couple of feet. She slowly steadied her stance and aimed her sword at her own captain. Her eyes only showed a will to win as she started to charge forward at Hitsugaya. She lunged out her sword to stab him right in the heart. Hitsugaya easily countered that move with the block of his own sword. He pushed her off and went for a slash and another slash. She easily countered those as well and she tried to strike him with every opening she managed to catch. Hitsugaya blocked all those off and quickly disappeared afterwards.

Startled, Naori jerked her head around, trying to see where he had went when he flash stepped away. He couldn't have run out of the battle already! Irritated, Naori quickly lunged in nothingness in thought he might appear there.

"Look how delusional you've gotten." Hitsugaya remarked behind her and he quickly dodged a slash from Naori.

Once Naori attempted a slash, she quickly jumped into the air and flash stepped out of sight. She appeared right behind him and struck blades with him once more. She yelled in fury and struck again and again and again with Hitsugaya blocking off every single attempt. She quickly kicked Hitsugaya under his feet and flipped him up into the air. She readied her sword and stabbed forward at where his body will connect with her blade. Suddenly, Hitsugaya twisted himself to avoid the blade completely and he twirled up over Naori's head, landing right behind her with his sword at her neck.

Both of them were releasing more and more spiritual pressure as their fight continued. Every time Naori threw a slash or stab of her sword, Hitsugaya would easily block or dodge it and counter with his own attacks. They've been at this constant pattern for who knows how long that it became tiring. Naori's well-kept hair was falling apart on her hair beads and she was panting tiredly. Hitsugaya looked fine and his sword was still held up to fight.

Naori yelled something and she started running at Hitsugaya with her sword ready for another stab. Hitsugaya quickly parried that attack and even managed to knock that sword out of her hands! Victory was on his hands! He knew as he confidently pointed his blade at Naori's neck.

"Last chance…" Hitsugaya quietly said.

"Hadō 31! Shakkahō!" Naori yelled the kido without the incantation and a ball of crimson energy flew right out of her hands and right at Hitsugaya.

Hitsugaya quickly dodged the crimson energy and he also dodged all the other short balls of crimson energy that were flying at him. Now she was just randomly throwing kido at him now! Her sword was already out of her hands and her kido was increasingly stronger probably because of her rage. She really was intent on killing him. He needed to stop her and completely immobilize her now before she uses any other dangerous spells!

"You forced me to do this Hibana!" Hitsugaya glared at the girl who started charging up for another kido attack. Hitsugaya held his palm out right at Naori. "Bakudō 63 Sajo Sabaku!"

An even more powerful yellow energy rope shot out of his hand and ensnared Naori body completely in it. It dragged her back with so much force that she was forcibly slammed against a nearby tree. Naori wriggled and frantically struggled, trying to get the powerful kido to disappear.

"It's no use. I know your weakness is every strong kido that's fired at you." Hitsugaya calmly said and sheathed his sword. "This way, I no longer have to think of you as a threat. You should be grateful I spared your life."

Naori fell limp and she stopped her struggling completely. "It wouldn't matter anyways if you killed me or not." She lifted her head and softly spoke in a more civil manner.

* * *

Amui ran and ran and ran as fast as she could right through the festival areas. It was almost closing down and she needed to get out the gates before it closed. She didn't know what was going on but just by looking at Hitsugaya, it had to be dangerous.

She glanced back and noticed she lost his gigai somewhere. They must have been separated when she was bolting through the thick trees of the park.

Amui panted and pushed herself to run faster. Gradually, she slowed down and stopped to rest at a nearby lamppost. She seriously already dashed halfway through the park and she was already out of breath! She steadied her stance on the post and slowly breathed in and out quick breaths of air.

Suddenly, she felt somebody's presence behind her!

"I found you."

* * *

Hitsugaya frowned. "What nonsense are you spouting out now, Hibana?"

"It wouldn't matter…because I'm going to die in a matter of time anyways." Naori replied. "While you're wasting your time fighting me, the real one's probably got her by now."

"What do you mean by the real one?" Hitsugaya demanded in an almost yelling tone.

"Have you not noticed yet?" She smiled and chuckled a bit. "I'm nothing more than a corpse body breathed to life by the electrical impulses the real one gave me to move. In other words, _I'm a_ _decoy_."

"What?" Hitsugaya growled. "That's just a load of bull coming from your mouth."

"Why are you pushing yourself to not believe me? You're already wasting your time talking to me. Besides, that girl is probably dead by now." The fake smiled and slowly began to close her eyes. "Before I vanish, let me just let you off with this little info right here. When I woke up, I felt the feelings of pure coldness, commitment, sadist, and a killer. Kind of like your little theory of real Naori having a split personality."

"What the hell does that mean?" Hitsugaya angrily demanded.

"If your little theory of her having a split personality is true, then why am I not psychotic? I'm the bad personality and yet, I'm not a psycho. There's only one answer." The fake glanced off at the distance. "Only one answer…"

"What would that be?" Hitsugaya asked, his tone wavering down a couple levels. "Don't tell me there's something even more twisted about Hibana. Damn it! She's already trouble enough!"

"I don't know. I'm merely just a tool." The fake softly replied, her voice softening and quieting down. "All I can predict is that the psychotic feeling was born out of her nice side and she simply…just…cracked…"

Hitsugaya frowned as the fake slowly began to go even more limp and lifeless in front of him. "Why are you telling me this?" He asked.

"Who knows?" The fake mused on. "Maybe…give you an idea…of who…you…should…save…" She fell out of life and never spoke again afterwards.

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Uhh...next part could be coming out soon. I have this entire part of the story all typed out and I'm just about to post them all after a couple of edits. Please review!!!! That's all.


	17. No Return

_Yes. Naori has a very insane side of her very complicated, not fully revealed, cloudy with a slight chance of rain, personality. But what I want to point out is the type of craziness Naori is. She is not a Yandere, but a Yangire! Big difference. Though she did get crazy on how Hitsugaya keeps staying on Amui's side…but she mostly went crazy on how he refused to follow through with her plan…I don't know anymore!! Either way, she's sick._

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No Return

Hitsugaya didn't spare a second glance at the corpse body decoy. She had been after all an object used by a shinigami. He quickly turned his heels and frantically began a mad dash to anywhere. He had already been notified that Naori was already heading after Amui and she might still be in that deranged state. He had to get to Amui before she did.

"_Well I think the_ _yukata I got is simply the best!"_

Hitsugaya flash stepped over at least the entire park before he came across the now abandoned festival. It already ended and the only traces of it being left were the leftover stands that needed to still be packed and the burnt out bonfire where the people danced around in.

"_And I also want to dance around the bonfire! Hitsugaya-kun!"_

He could still hear her like she had been having a fun time. He couldn't stand the fact of her in that state of fear when fake Naori almost slit her neck. He still saw her widened eyes touched with fear and her shaking body when that sword was at her throat.

"_Do you like my new mask I bought?"_

Hitsugaya soared through the skies once more until he suddenly spotted someone lying on the ground face down. He landed closer and noticed a familiar icy blue tone to her yukata and a familiar chestnut tone on her long hair. Why was she lying down on the ground? And why was her yukata almost red!?

"Shizumiya!" Hitsugaya cried and raced down to the blood covered Amui.

He flipped her over and saw that her eyes were closed completely and her mouth no longer seemed to quiver or move. Her entire face was pale and her cheeks were no longer a rosy tint like before. Her entire body fell limp and from the right side of her body to her right arm was completely covered in blood!

Where was that Naori? She definitely went too far with this! Hitsugaya balled his hands into fists and he immediately punched the ground below him, almost shaking the entire place.

"You came…" A soft voice said.

Hitsugaya turned around to see Naori walking up to him and stopping only meters away. She came up to him in strides that represented a floating cloud and she was already in her shinigami form. Her face remained still and her eyes became like a dead stare. She flicked her sword a little and a spray of blood came flying out from the blade. She had blood everywhere on her! Her face covered with splatters of blood; her blade partially covered in blood, her hand that held the sword was streaming blood from the fingers down to her arm.

"Why…Why did you? Even…even when I told you not to." Hitsugaya angrily stuttered out, his anger conquering his ability to form words.

"I told you I'd kill her!" Naori replied, licking some of the blood off her wrist.

"Why you…" His hands began to reach for his sword.

"See! I killed her already! Isn't that a good sign this mission's a success?" Naori happily exclaimed.

Hitsugaya widened his eyes, staring directly at that girl. His fifth seat girl was almost covered in blood, all of it not her own, and her sword had been swung at an innocent human. Her eyes had a glare of a killing instinct and her smile showed a wicked sadist. "Who are you?" Hitsugaya whispered.

"Now then, lets complete the job and finish her off!" Naori slowly swiped out the creepy syringe from the sleeve of her uniform and she menacingly started walking over to them.

His fingers lingered on the handle and his grip tightened afterwards on the leathered strips. Hitsugaya continued to glare on at Naori, preparing to attack her. He was about to lunge forward when suddenly; he heard a shuffle of clothing! Hitsugaya whipped his head to see Amui momentarily stir.

"H…Hitsugaya…kun…" Amui weakly whispered as she partially fluttered open her eyes. "Hitsugaya-kun…what happened? My-my body…it feels…so warm…so wet… It hurts… I don't…I don't feel…so good…"

"Hold on Shizumiya! Just for a little longer!" Hitsugaya frantically shouted.

"Hitsugaya…" Her eyes closed again and her body fell weak.

"She lives." Naori coldly stated and drew her bloody sword in front of her.

She seemed so ready to fight even her own captain. It didn't matter who she was fighting unless she got to Amui. He had to prevent Amui from getting killed! He just had to! Hitsugaya picked up the bleeding Amui with one hand and drew out his sword to block hers.

Naori's eyes widened when she saw his and her own swords clash against each other. She gasped and quickly backed off. "You-You'd actually draw your sword against me!" Her eyes widened even more and her crooked smiles disappeared. "How could you? I'm your subordinate! I'm one who always fights by your side! How could you raise your sword AGAINST YOUR OWN!!?"

Hitsugaya quickly backed away, clutching Amui even closer to him. He really should have predicted that she would go insane again. With her mental state right now, it's not a surprise anything will make her snap.

"How could you? How could you!? How could you!!?" Naori loudly screamed and raised her sword high over her head. "Strike, Denbaku-to!!"

A huge flash of light protruded from her sword and a large explosion broke loose that Hitsugaya had fled the scene as fast as possible. Naori stood in the center of the explosion with her released sword hanging by her side. Her katana changed into a long Chinese jian sword with a golden hilt and a red tassel hanging from the end. Naori went into stance and aimed her sword at a tree, causing a large electric current to shoot out from the tip of her sword and burst right through it.

Hitsugaya quickly flash stepped down from the tree that had just been hit. He gripped onto Amui even closer and quickly ran off. He couldn't get her hurt even more now that she's bleeding to death. She needed to be safe before he could deal with Naori.

Another sharp electrical current grazed over the back of his neck. Slightly wincing from the pain, Hitsugaya quickly dove into the trees. She must be trailing him by concealing herself where he couldn't see and sense her. Of all those days of training and combat, he never witnessed her fight like this! With her mental state right now, she was the formidable opponent.

Naori leaped through the branches of trees, following the very spiritual pressure of her captain. Her sword was a bit warm from all the electrical charges. Too much strain on the electrical properties would cause an explosion. She didn't care one bit. She quickly jumped off a strong branch and leaped into the open air. She scanned the skies, the ground, and yet, found no trace of her captain.

"Sit upon the frozen heavens…Hyourinmaru!!" An ice dragon suddenly soared through the sky and aimed itself directly at Naori.

She narrowed her eyes and swung her sword to produce another electrical current to burst from her sword. It sailed up and clashed with the ice dragon right in the head. But her captain's power was so great that Naori had to keep hold of her constant flow of power just to hold Hyourinmaru off.

"Bakudō 4, Hainawa!" The kido spell shot out from nowhere and it completely tied up Naori's arms. Frantic, she struggled around and tried to dispel the spell using pure force. She glanced up and saw that Hitsugaya was the one who'd cast such a kido spell.

"Hibana…" Hitsugaya quietly said, walking closer to her.

"You hid her, didn't you!?" Naori angrily accused, continuing to struggle. "Where is she!? I'll erase her very existence!!"

"Stop resisting Hibana." Hitsugaya calmly walked over to the deranged girl. "I'm bringing you back and I'm going to get you help."

"What help!!?" Naori madly yelled, her electrical power starting to break though the kido. "I don't need help!! I'm doing what has to be done!! Let me go!!!"

Sensing her madness peak over, Hitsugaya lifted his sword and readied himself to defend. He kept a strong hold on his kido spell not even putting out a single flinch.

Naori shook and struggled to get herself free. She violently pushed out with her arms, trying to free herself. She ran in complete circles, her arms waving wildly behind her back and her face swinging around like crazy. She withered around and continued to struggle to break herself free. It wasn't until she fell down on her knees to the ground and screamed. "AAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!" A glaring light shot right out of her and exploded right on the spot.

Hitsugaya raised his arms to block the light and tried to squint through the bright glare of her explosion. He saw a dark figure running right at him and he quickly raised his sword to defend. Soon, his and Naori's swords were again crossed against each other's. Hitsugaya quickly broke the clash and he went for another slash at Naori only for her to completely block it. Naori narrowed her gaze and went for stabbing through his chest. He quickly blocked it and contorted himself to slash right at her back. Sensing this, Naori raised her sword once again.

Another current of electricity came out of her sword and she slashed right at Hitsugaya. He successfully dodged it, but the electricity was too much and it got to him badly.

Hitsugaya winced and staggered a little from the shock running through his body. "If it weren't for the limiter, I'd would have beaten you already." He growled at her.

"Tell me…" Naori growled back and her sword brightened again. "Tell me…WHERE SHE IS!!!!" Another current of electricity shot out and aimed directly at Hitsugaya.

He dodged it like easy, but more and more short charges came shooting right at him. Though they were only short charges of electricity, they were still mad fast and could still hurt like hell. He dodged each coming shot with agile speed and he would sometimes he would send his own shikai going right at her. It successfully threw Naori off for some time, but she'll appear again and start shooting at him. Suddenly she flash stepped so fast that she appeared only a couple feet away from where Hitsugaya was heading. Hitsugaya skidded to a stop and quickly raised his sword against her.

She raised her own sword and struck down. Her face suddenly changed into a moment like she just thought of an idea. "I get it." Naori said. "I get it. You hid her with a barrier!! All I have to do is kill you and the barrier will dispel!"

Hitsugaya quickly blocked it off before it came close to his head. He held her sword, locked against his, for a while before knocking her away.

Naori gritted her teeth and she sprinted right at Hitsugaya, her sword ready to stab him again. She was about to lunge forward until something huge made all the spiritual pressure around rise. Naori froze in her place, her eyes growing wider and her lip slightly quivering. Hitsugaya quickly glanced up and witnessed the huge opening in the sky.

A Gillian stepped through the Garganta into the human world and roared its head back, searching for all that spiritual pressure coming from Hitsugaya and Naori's fight. It sensed a specific spiritual pressure and focused all it attention to it: Naori. The huge Gillian lashed out and took Naori by surprise, encasing her entire body in its grasp.

Naori gasped and struggled to break free. She took her sword and whacked it against its hand. The Gillian didn't mind as it turned around back to the Garganta. In desperate measures, Naori charged up her sword to the fullest and released it into a huge explosion. A huge cloud came right out of the hollow's hand, sparks flying everywhere from it. The Gillian stumbled a little at the sudden explosion, but his hands still remained clamped to Naori.

There was nothing she could do! She can't do anything about this! She didn't want to be trapped and eaten in Hueco Mundo!!! She didn't want to become a hollow!

"Help…" Weak words escaped from her mouth. "Help me…Hitsugaya-taicho…Help me!"

Hitsugaya sensed her desperate words and merely only glanced up as the girl was being carried off. His hands tightened into fists, but he couldn't move. He can't move. It was for the best anyways.

"Help me!! Hitsugaya-taicho!! Help me!" Naori grew more and more desperate. She screamed her pleas from her place in the hands of the Gillian, holding her hand out for him, just waiting for him to grab and pull her out. She wanted him to quickly race up towards her and hold out his hand for her. She wanted him to come screaming her name! But why wasn't he moving?

Hitsugaya broke his gaze with her and struggled to not lock eyes with her again.

Naori began to feel the immense spiritual pressure of Hueco Mundo near her. Coming closer and closer by the second, only moments away from engulfing her. "Please!!! Help me!!! Help me!! Hitsugaya-taicho! Hitsugaya-taicho!!! Help me!! Please!!!" Tears began flowing down her eyes as she dragged farther away from him. Her face, that still had dark stains of blood, now showed clear, sparkling tears streaming down.

"Hitsugaya-taicho!!! HELP MEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!"

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Very confusing and strange and sad...I know. I will explain such confusion in the next chapter when I feel like writing again. I'm too busy writing essays that I can't find time to write this story. I also got two plot bunnies stuck right in my head and I can't make it go away!!!

_Review though!!_


	18. Aftermath

_Since my reviewers are continuing to happily bash the second OC, Amui Shizumiya, after I basically put the girl mere inches to her death. [Come on! I almost killed her for sakes!] So in response, I am [cringes voice]__** exceedingly happy**__ [normal voice] to announce that Amui is pretty much not going to show up in any of the later chapters until further notice._

_Freaking stupid crap-ass fanfiction won't let me center my title. Serious! I hate this when it gets all glitchy. Can someone help me get this fixed?? Although it might be centered??_

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Aftermath

The room fell quiet now with dark and dimming lights on the outside and no sounds penetrating the walls. Quiet shuffles of the window curtains were heard as a gust of wind passed by. That was the only sound plus the static of a nearby plasma TV set. It crackled, sizzled, and would sometimes shoot sparks. Slowly, an image began to process onto the screen.

A man's face, with several strands of white hair overhanging it, showed up onto the screen. He held a gentle smile as he spoke in a weak yet cheery voice. "Why hello! Hitsugaya-taicho!"

"Hello, Ukitake-taicho." Hitsugaya replied in the same respectful manner.

"So you must be having a reason to be calling me at this time of day." Ukitake said, noting that it was merely just the morning right now. Though it was only a few hours till the afternoon.

"Yeah." Hitsugaya sighed. "I called to thank you for sending me the immediate back up yesterday. If it weren't for you, I don't know what I'll do with her."

"Oh! You really shouldn't be thanking me!" Ukitake exclaimed, waving his hands in a big no gesture. "Really! You should be thanking Kurotsuchi-taicho. He was the one who lent that faux hollow experiment he had been working on to me. My…I bet Kurotsuchi-taicho felt so excited to finally see his faux Gillian come to life. The realism of that Gillian had scored perfect results for him!"

"I keep telling him that the dummy hollows, the academy has now, are fine. But no…he has to take it an extra level up saying it will help enhance the students." Hitsugaya mumbled.

"Well I think it's a pretty good idea." Ukitake argued back. "It will give the students more knowledge of what kinds of hollows that are out there. Plus, it will give them more experience until they face a real Gillian. Naori-san, for example, completely fell for it."

Hitsugaya's face darkened quite a lot after Ukitake had made one mention of that name. "Don't say that name in front of me." He darkly said.

"Oh." Ukitake's tone softened up from being plain silly to stone cold serious.

"Well…" Hitsugaya slowly lifted his head, ready to face Ukitake and the situation at hand. "Well…how is she doing?"

Ukitake's face still stayed silent and serious as he answered. "She…she was just admitted into the psychiatric ward in the Fourth Division."

It felt like a whole stack of bricks had just been dropped right on his head when Hitsugaya heard that. He knew she had lost it bad, but he didn't know it had been going really bad for her. He knew her mentality drove her to have different personalities, a specific one leading to pure malice, but he also knew she had great self control.

Though noticing Hitsugaya's reaction, Ukitake still continued. "I may not be able to tell how she is doing right now since the tests haven't arrived back yet. But I can tell you her condition when she came back to Soul Society."

"How bad was she?"

Ukitake sighed, even thinking about the subject felt dark and heavy. "When she arrived back…just by looking at her face, it had been clear her mental state had already disintegrated into a state of psychosis."

A heavy feeling developed at the bottom of his heart. Was he the fault of this? Was he the fault of her?

"I can't explain it in full detail since it happened before I arrived to the scene." Ukitake sighed again. "But gathering from the reports, here's what I heard so far… When the faux Gillian arrived back, at first she was shaking with her hands tightly gripping onto the sides of her body. Then, she started screaming about how she was going to kill this girl and you next since, from her words, you betrayed Soul Society. We had already been notified of her state of madness, thanks to your report, and were already prepared to detain her…"

"What's wrong Ukitake-taicho? Don't tell me she'd gone crazy again!" Hitsugaya frantically asked.

"Well…" Ukitake's face scrunched up a little, trying to remember clearly what had happened. "She did lose her balance a bit and activated her shikai within my division. The men that I'd sent for her, quickly contacted for reinforcements and knowing the level of your subordinate, I took extra precaution and sent the lieutenants out before going myself."

"How'd it go then?" Hitsugaya asked, furthering his interest.

"I can just say that it took about two lieutenants to make her completely submit. Specifically, Izuru-fukutaicho and your own lieutenant, Matsumoto-fukutaicho." Ukitake answered, remembering how Izuru had struck Naori's blade with his Wabisuke at least three times to make her completely lose hold of her sword. Then, how Matsumoto had bounded her with a high-leveled kido spell after she lost her focus for a minute.

"Is that so…" Hitsugaya whispered. He had nothing else to say. What was about to happen to her was out of his hands now. If only it hadn't come out this way. "In that case, I'll be signing off."

"Wait a minute, Hitsugaya-taicho." Those sudden words prompted Hitsugaya to hesitate. Ukitake spoke again, even more serious. "Tell me, Hitsugaya-taicho…do you still hold a resentment to her for doing this?"

A slight pause after that.

"I don't know." Hitsugaya replied in a sigh. "It's those times where her irrational madness gets to me. It's one of those things I can't stand about her."

"I guess I wouldn't know if I should ask your forgiveness for her." Ukitake said, wiping some of his white hair strands of his face.

"Why would you ask that for such a mental person like her?" Hitsugaya asked in confusion.

"If you think about it for a little, she may not be so crazy as you think." Ukitake suggested. "She still had thought about the mission and she just chose a way to act towards it. Though I admit, it wasn't the best tactic to use. Also, what I think may have triggered her into this deep state of insanity was the fact you were unwilling to commit with her and the mission. But that's just me guessing."

"And how would you know all this? It's not like the tests can read the inside of her mind." Hitsugaya sarcastically asked.

Ukitake simply smiled. "It's not that hard if you understand her perspective of things."

"Whatever, I'm off." Hitsugaya grumbled, edging his hand even closer to the remote. His head was getting tired from all this talk off insanity with Naori. He needed one of his afternoon naps to forget all this for little moment.

"One more thing!" Ukitake exclaimed. "I need to remind you of something urgent!"

"And what is that?" Hitsugaya asked, moving his hand away.

"Her little plan of outright killing the target may have not been the best. But it was still plausible." Ukitake said, his voice dropping even more serious. "There may be a time where the dire status of the situation will call for that plan back to action. You might as well know this at the least."

Hitsugaya paused in his answer a little. There may be a time that he might need to kill Amui? "I'll keep that in mind." He said in a soft voice.

"In that case, I hope you do well in this mission!" Ukitake's voice went back to happy and cheery again. "Come visit Soul Society some time soon! I'll have oodles and oodles of snacks ready for you!"

"Forget it!" Hitsugaya curtly replied and signed off right then. He definitely wasn't in the mood for sweets.

* * *

"How is she?" One of the passing healers whispered.

"She's stable now…or so I've heard…" The other whispered back.

"What a shame. I remember her being the calm, sweet, little girl that always did the incoming paperwork and played nurse for our members."

"Yeah…she was so sweet…"

Hinamori didn't bother to hang around anymore to listen to the two passing Fourth Division members. She had only heard about Naori this morning from Matsumoto and now; she was rushing as fast as possible through the entire building. She remembered how Matsumoto collapsed in her office, saying how she had a rough night. Hinamori never knew since she had been asleep at the time, but then she heard about Naori being detained and put under medical care. Hearing that, Hinamori had bolted right out!

Hinamori slammed open the door to Naori's room. "Naori-chan!!" Hinamori loudly exclaimed through the entire room.

"Hush!" Isane shushed her down.

Hinamori slightly blushed and she quickly bowed down for apology. "I'm sorry! Isane-fukutaicho!"

"Please be quiet Hinamori-fukutaicho." Isane quietly whispered. "She's still not in a very good condition, so anything can drive her over the edge."

"Oh…right…" Hinamori said, her blush still rising on her face. "Um…Isane-fukutaicho…I know this may be a bit selfish of me, but…"

"What is it?" Isane asked.

Hinamori blushed even more and quickly bowed down again in respect. "I'm sorry for asking, but can I please get a few moments with her when she wakes up!!?"

Isane solemnly stared at the pleading girl in front of her. "I'm sorry Hinamori-fukutaicho, but I can't allow that."

"It'll only be for a couple of seconds!" Hinamori insisted.

"I'm sorry! But I don't want to endanger your life with this-"

"It's okay." A soft voice sounded from behind Isane.

Isane quickly turned around and saw that she had woken up already. Naori looked even worse for the wear now that she had woken up. Her skin was as pale as a hollow's mask and her hair fell in a complete mess. Her eyes were now in a slight daze and were only partially opened like she was still asleep. It even had bags under them. Though her eyes at least didn't show a bit of that intent anymore.

Naori slowly turned her gaze towards Isane. "It's okay Isane-fukutaicho." She repeated again. "It's okay…she's my friend…she can stay…"

Isane hesitated for a bit. It was beginning hard to tell if she was still in that insane state right now. Isane would have known since she was one of the lieutenants sent to detain her, yet here she was as calm as an undisturbed pond. She didn't know what to do now, but she should respect the girl's wishes though. Isane nodded and stood up from her chair and walked out towards the door. She momentarily passed by Hinamori and quickly passed on a message.

"If she goes unstable, our members will be right at the door. Ready to act."

Hinamori nodded and faced Naori. "Naori-chan…"

"What is it Hinamori-fukutaicho?" Naori asked.

Hinamori smiled a little in content. "I keep telling you to not be so formal with me. Why don't you get that?"

"I don't know…" Naori whimsically mused on. "I guess it's just a force of habit. I always call everyone by their appropriate titles."

"But it gets so annoying!" Hinamori pouted. "I don't always want to be referred as lieutenant when I'm off duty. It keeps reminding me of my doubled paperwork!"

"If you don't want that to happen, then why don't you go and get a captain! I bet Matsumoto-fukutaicho can fit the bill!" Naori teased her, taking in all the glee.

"No! That'll make things even worse!" Hinamori whined.

Naori warmly smiled at the troubled girl. "I'm just kidding Hinamori-fukutaicho. Don't worry your little head off."

Hinamori stopped her little fuming and started blushing from that confusing moment she'd been put through. "I know…sorry for acting out of it…" Hinamori quietly said.

"No trouble!" Naori enthusiastically assured her.

"Say…Naori-chan…" Hinamori slowly whispered out. "Do you…well…regret what you did?"

Naori's face immediately fell into a quieted state and she turned her face to the nearby window. "No." She bluntly replied.

"B-But you almost tried to kill a human and Hitsugaya-kun! A captain! That's two serious offences here in Soul Society!" Hinamori exclaimed.

"I don't care and don't you ever mention that damn name in front of me!" Naori snapped at her.

"Naori-chan! You have to know that what you did was wrong! It will help your recovery and your state of mind!" Hinamori insisted.

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Naori yelled at her, gripping onto the sides of her head. "I don't need to be taking crap from you! Shut up!"

"Please!" Hinamori cried. "I know everything's been downhill for you about your mission, about your mental state, and about you and Hitsugaya-kun. But if you just listen to me-"

"Shut up! SHUT UP!!" Naori yelled, her fingers raking into the sides of her head. "I'm not gonna listen to you! Not to you! Aren't you forgetting about yourself? Why should I listen to a person telling me that attacking a captain in wrong when she assaulted two captains before?"

"W-What?" Hinamori gasped.

"Don't tell me you forgot!" Naori literally began yelling and shuffles of feet were heard outside of her door. "You don't remember how you got into comatose. You're such a fool! You were tricked into assaulting that Gin Ichimaru after thinking he murdered him. Then, you were tricked into trying to kill your very own best friend. And here you are, telling me to not kill that damn captain when you tried to yourself."

"P-Please Naori-chan! Please don't say any more!" Hinamori pleaded, gripping onto the sleeves of her uniform.

"You're such a weakling and now you're trying to go up against me?" Naori snarled and her eyes began to blank out dull. "Such a weakling you are! So weak that Aizen had you right on his strings, manipulating you into doing everything he wants. And when Aizen was all finished with you, he got rid of you just like that with no hesitations! Now you tell me…why should I be taking advice from someone like you!!!"

Every 'Aizen' that came out of Naori's mouth pounded itself even deeper into Hinamori's mind. Hinamori couldn't find herself to speak anymore, her mind being clouded with constant images of her former captain. Hinamori felt herself just collapsing on the spot while Naori kept screaming at her.

"That damn Aizen had you within his fingers!" Naori yelled as her tears began to fall. "Just like that damn girl had him within hers! One of these days, I'll kill them both!!"

A hand covered Naori's entire face right in the middle of her rambling. Soon, just like a flash of lightening, members of the Fourth Division quickly ran into the room. Some were blocking off Hinamori's view of Naori while the others were crowding over Naori. Hinamori could hear Naori scream in fear and the members' frantic calls to calm her down. Soon the room fell silent and once the Fourth Division members parted, Naori had fallen back to sleep.

"Hinamori-fukutaicho. We're terribly sorry for the trouble she caused you." One of the members said to her. "It's to be expected since it's only been a day since she's been back."

"She said his name…Aizen…" Hinamori said in a daze.

"Yes, we know." The person sighed and directed Hinamori to the door. "It's best you leave now. Anything can now upset her."

Hinamori nodded and still in a daze, she headed for the door. She was about to turn the corner when she spotted a familiar strawberry blonde heading her way. "Rangiku-san!" Hinamori said as Matsumoto came closer.

"I see you already saw her." Matsumoto commented, noting how shaken Hinamori looked.

"Yeah…it didn't work…" Hinamori said with a worried face. "I tried, but she wouldn't listen. And then she said his name…"

"Forget about it." Matsumoto sternly replied.

"But Rangiku-san!"

"I said forget it!" Matsumoto repeated herself, her tone getting even sterner. "You tried your best, Hinamori. You did what you needed to do. It's just that Naori-chan hasn't gotten over the ordeal yet."

"But I'm worried!" Hinamori said with tears in her eyes. "What if she never gets out of this? What will happen to Hitsugaya-kun if she stays like this? I know he's going to be so worried!"

"It's going to be okay." Matsumoto warmly comforted her, reassuringly patting Hinamori on the head. "Why don't you go back home and rest a bit? And don't worry; I'm going to always be with Naori-chan until she wakes up again."

"Really?" Hinamori asked with her hopes rising again.

Matsumoto happily winked at the troubled little girl. "Of course I will! Just you wait Hinamori! I promise I'll definitely turn her back to the way she was before!"

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Ok…you people can go do your little happy dance while I go sulk in the corner. [Starts thinking of more creative ways to torture reviewers without Amui] What? Anyways, the next chapter will continue off from this and it will [sneak preview] conclude whether Naori is able to return back to normal. Start the betting tables!

_Review about how happy you guys must be after reading the top author's note._


	19. Recovery

_For some reason, people were thinking Amui was going to be scrapped out completely from the story… I'm telling you, she's not going anywhere. Amui is still an important character in the story. Except in the future chapters that I'm going to update, she just won't show up as much until the far future chapters. Did that settle things?_

_Anyways there are two outcomes of this chapter. One, you get to see if Naori gets to return back to normal from her hysterical state. Two, what is the aftermath that Hitsugaya, himself, has to clean up. Don't believe me? Read on to the chapter._

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Recovery

Such a long time has passed by. Once Hinamori had left back to her quarters, Matsumoto leisurely occupied the seat that sat at Naori's bed. There she sat without budging even a bit, just observing Naori in her sleep. The bright day soon turned into the starry sky. Wavering winds blew by the sleepy room and the moon lit the room with a midnight glow.

Matsumoto observed the ruffling of her clothes as Naori's chest heaved up and down. She remembered how last night that her eyes were wild and menacing. Now, they looked really peaceful and so serene. The moonlight glow shimmered over her pale face and made her dark blue hair shine up a bit. Her white sleeping kimono shone out of the gray covers of her bed. She really did look like she did no wrong and she was simply just napping.

'_Seems our officers were right.'_ Matsumoto chuckled in her head. _'She really does look cute when she's asleep.'_

The chuckle quietly escaped Matsumoto's lips and echoed throughout the room. For a while, everything was silent as an empty lake. Then Naori fluttered open her eyes and slowly sat up from her bed.

"Matsumoto…fukutaicho…" Naori murmured as she rubbed her eyes. "What are you-?"

SLAP

An open hand flew out of nowhere and connected right on Naori's cheek. Naori felt her head fly back and fall right into the bed. Matsumoto stood there with her arm crossed against her chest and her hands stiffly open and bright red. Her face was showing a cross between being concerned and furious.

Naori reached for her throbbing cheek with her shaking hands. Her eyes shot out tears of pain and her teeth gritted to bear it. "Matsumoto-fukutaicho…" Her voice became low and threatening as she turned to glare at her. "Just what was that for-"

Another slap came right at her and sent Naori right back into the bed. But Matsumoto had slapped her so hard that she rolled back and slammed against the wall. Naori winced from the pain of her back and cheeks and she struggled to sit back up.

Matsumoto just silently store down at the little girl. "That one was for hurting Hinamori." She said in a low voice.

"Ow ow ow!" Naori whimpered as she held her stomach and sat back up. "What the hell was that for!!? Slapping me for no reason!" She yelled in anger.

"Naori Hibana. Shut up." Matsumoto quietly told back to her.

"Why the hell would you slap me!!? I did nothing to you!" Naori yelled back at her, not even trying to back down.

"I said! Shut up!!" Matsumoto yelled back, her rage shooting up and scattering everywhere.

Naori found a feeling inside of her. Something from the inside was telling her that staying quiet was the best thing to do. And with that, Naori suddenly shut up and watched the lieutenant glaring at her.

"Naori-chan… Tell me. Do you even notice what you have done?" Matsumoto said in an ominous voice.

Naori fell even more silent and her face grew dark. "Go away…" She silently murmured.

"I'm not going until you say it!" Matsumoto yelled at her.

"I said go away!!" Naori spat back out.

A moment of silence passed between the two. The air around them felt heavy and it grew so thick that one can get nauseous just by being the situation both Matsumoto and Naori were in.

Matsumoto sighed. "Fine…since you're so stubborn. I'm just going to tell you myself."

Naori narrowed her eyes at the woman. She wouldn't dare tell her what she done wrong. She had done nothing wrong! Naori knew from her straight mind was telling her she done nothing bad.

"Do you know what you done?" Matsumoto questioned. "Do you know what was going through that head of yours when you did that?"

"Shut up!" Naori gasped and gripped the sides of her head.

"I'll tell you." Matsumoto glared at her. "I'll tell you that you did everything only a complete idiot will do!"

"Stop it!" Naori shouted as her head began to throb. Her eyes started to flow with tears again. Just why was she crying now?

Matsumoto paused for a second, watching that girl collect everything she just said into her head. "Naori-chan…" Matsumoto whispered. "Look what you got yourself into. You now got three charges against you for almost killing a human, attacking a captain, and resisting arrest. Why would you get yourself into all that trouble? Why!?"

"Please…just stop…" Naori whimpered out in a weak voice as her tears streamed down her cheeks and onto the blankets. "Please…no more…"

"And what's worst of all…" Matsumoto stopped right in the middle once she noticed Naori breaking down in tears. Her eyes slowly became calm again and she lowered her voice. "And you know what was the worst thing you did…you made Hinamori cry."

Naori's eyes grew large and she felt her heart stop a bit. Hinamori was really crying? Why was she crying? Just what did she do that made Hinamori cry? She couldn't remember. But she always knew from the bottom of her heart, that the last thing she ever wanted to do was making Hinamori cry. Naori could just imagine the tears flowing right from Hinamori's chocolate brown eyes and her heart started aching afterwards.

"Naori-chan…" Matsumoto said and her voice grew softer and calmer. "You're a really good girl, you know. You're smart, cute, and you can fight well. So why don't you be a good girl and tell me what's wrong?"

What's wrong? Those words sounded right through Naori's mind. What was wrong? She really didn't know the answer to that very question. Her mind was in a complete jumble and she didn't know what to think anymore. Just what was wrong?

Suddenly, images of a familiar night entered into her mind and Naori remembered it once more. That's right. She was acting delusional that night and tried to kill Amui and her own captain. Naori stared at herself, horrified at what she was seeing. She witnessed how she was acting not herself, her sword striking against her own captain, and splattered blood flying everywhere. She saw how she activated her own sword and started electrocuting everything in plain sight. How she was crying and yelling at her own captain. Just who was that girl wearing her skin?

Naori clutched onto her chest and she fell forward, slamming her face into the soft mattress of the cot. Her head was pounding from the painful memories and her heart fell so fast from the unbearable pain. Why was she acting like that? Why? She just couldn't find the answer within herself.

"Naori-chan! What's wrong?" Matsumoto worriedly asked.

"Everything." Naori answered in a choking voice. She started crying once again and her voice disintegrated into that of a little child. "Everything's wrong…everything…everything…"

"Naori-chan…" Matsumoto sighed. Finally…she came back…

"Matsumoto-fukutaicho…just what was I doing?" Naori choked out as her tears covered her face. "What was I doing back then? I yelled at Hitsugaya-taicho. I saw my sword painted in blood. I saw Hitsugaya-taicho screaming back at me and looking at me with those fearful eyes. And I saw myself yelling at Hinamori! What did I do?"

She looked like she could handle it anymore and just cried after that. Matsumoto reached out and pulled the crying Naori towards her. Naori covered her face with her own fists and tearfully wept in them. Matsumoto pressed the girl against her chest and wrapped her arms around her.

"There, there…" Matsumoto gently said. "It's okay, Naori-chan. It's all going to be all right."

"How? Matsumoto-fukutaicho? I screwed up so bad!" Naori whimpered in her muffled voice.

"Well…you can always start by apologizing." Matsumoto suggested with a definite tone. "Isn't that right? Hinamori?"

"Yes." A soft voice sounded from right outside the door. Hinamori slowly opened the creaking door and stepped right in the room. She had a moonlight glimmer on her chocolate eyes and her smile seemed like a bright sunny day again. Hinamori didn't even seem to be afraid any more as she approached Naori's bed. "Yes." She repeated. "I think that's a wonderful idea."

Water started to form and spread out from her shining golden eyes. Naori felt her lip whimper a bit and her tears just continuously dribbling down her face. In seconds, Naori leapt out and reached out for Hinamori's open arms. Hinamori wrapped her arms around the girl and embraced her tightly.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Naori tearfully cried as she gripped tighter onto Hinamori. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"I forgive you…Naori-chan…" Hinamori gently replied.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" With every 'sorry' coming from her mouth, her voice grew weaker and softer. Such repeating words slowly began to lull the girl back to sleep. But it was better this way. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm…"

Hinamori just smiled and she let Naori fall back to sleep on her lap. She wouldn't mind really. Naori did have a cute face when she's asleep.

* * *

"Hitsugaya-kun!!!!" Hinamori frowned at the continued static on her video transmission. She had just called and he was not answering for some reason. Hitsugaya always answered right at the first ring whenever he called, since he was always working at his desk. She drummed her fingers against the table as her patience decreased by loads. Hinamori pouted as the time passed and tried again. "Hitsugaya-kun!!! Hitsugaya-kun!!! Hitsugaya-kun!! Hitsugaya-kun! Shiro-chan!!!"

"I heard you the first five times Bed-wetter Momo! And it's Hitsugaya-taicho!" A grumpy voice replied and Hinamori saw the captain click on as well.

"Hitsugaya-kun! Eh? You don't look like you've been sleeping a lot." Hinamori remarked.

"That's because a certain someone likes to call me when I'm taking my afternoon naps." Hitsugaya grumbled, shooting a noticeable glare at Hinamori. "What about you? Huh? You look like you've been up the entire night."

"Hey. I had to be with Naori-chan the whole last night." Hinamori complained back. She was going to say more, but the sudden look on Hitsugaya's face told her she shouldn't continue.

Hitsugaya clenched his fists together, his mind still trying to collect what he's thinking. The subject about Naori has been getting a little bit uncomfortable. But he needed to answer quickly before Hinamori notices. "Naori…" Hitsugaya said after a pause. "How is she doing? Is she going to be alright?"

Hinamori's face fell as she witnessed her friend's inability to form those words. But she shouldn't be sad as well! That would just make things worse! She needed to perk up fast! "Hitsugaya-kun…you really are worried about Naori-chan!"

"Eh?" Hitsugaya was stunned by her words for just a second. "What kind of nonsense are you spouting out!? She's one of my top subordinates so I have to know her condition! It's one of the captain's priorities!"

Hinamori shrugged, knowing no matter how much he tried to hide it, she could still see through to him. "Hey Hitsugaya-kun? Don't you want to know how she's doing?"

He nodded.

"She's doing fine, getting better every second actually. In fact, she just got into physical and psychological therapy today. She's passing by them with flying colors too!! I bet she won't even need the therapy that long." Hinamori informed him.

"Oh…that's good." Hitsugaya sighed.

Hinamori gaze down at him, knowing full well how relieved he felt. "Hitsugaya-kun…" She started after a long pause. "Do you still think Naori-chan is a bad person? After trying to kill that human girl, do you think she's bad?"

Hitsugaya didn't even try to answer that question. He knew full well he couldn't answer that question.

"Well? Is she bad?"

He still didn't answer her.

Yet Hinamori still continued. "Hitsugaya-kun. Please don't hate her! She's really sorry for what she did. Really! I know she doesn't want you to hate her so please reconsider!" Hinamori insisted.

"It's okay! Nothing bad is going to happen. It's just going to be a bit strange around her." Hitsugaya immediately said, hoping to reassure the panicking girl.

Hinamori smiled only for a moment. "Is that so…thank goodness…" But her grins quickly turned into worried frowns. "But Hitsugaya-kun…I'm sorry for saying this but…"

"What?"

"Well…" Hinamori glanced back up with a concerned gaze on her eyes. "Hitsugaya-kun, what you're thinking about Naori-chan is wrong!"

Hitsugaya almost stumbled back after what she said. Just what was Hinamori saying now? Her voice changed for the worse so it must be important. But just what was important about what he thought of Naori.

"I know for a fact you think Naori-chan is some sort of crazy girl! I understand you'll think that after what you just went through but I'm telling you she's not! She's not half normal and half malicious." Hinamori suddenly said out loud from nowhere her voice rising and falling every now and then. "Look Hitsugaya-kun. She's not what you think she is. She's really kind and sweet; she just tends to be a little cynical at times. And she was just at her breaking point when she went all psychotic on you."

Hitsugaya couldn't say much after Hinamori had just told him that Naori did not have that split personality. "Really Hinamori. What does that make her?" Hitsugaya sarcastically asked.

"A person." Hinamori simply replied and smiled afterwards.

Hitsugaya frowned. "You know…one of these days, I'm going to find out how you can make so accurate assumptions on people."

"You know what Granny always said!" Hinamori piped in. "Never think of someone's kimono without looking at their shoes first."

"Hm…then, I'll see you later Hinamori." Hitsugaya said.

"Hold on Hitsugaya-kun! I have one last thing to say!" Hinamori pleaded, making him hesitate going to shut the conference.

"What is it?" Hitsugaya asked.

"It's a message from the Captain Commander. He wants to discuss matters with you personally." Hinamori said and faked a perk up after that. "That means you're coming back to Soul Society in a few days!"

_

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Ooh… Is our little Shiro-chan in trouble? He's in big, big trouble is my guess. How would I know? I wrote this story! Anyways, because of the fact Hitsugaya is coming back to Soul Society, guess who he's going to run into?

_Review!!!_


	20. Memories

_Hey guys! Sorry if I've hadn't updated in such a long time...I think...I don't know. I don't keep track of the updates per week. Anyways, sorry if I've hadn't been keeping up with my updating schedule. High school's really overwhelming me! I got so much to study for and write up and I just don't have enough time to write good fan fiction. I don't even have enough time to update! Anyways, enjoy this chapter that I'd typed up weeks ago._

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Memories

Naori halfheartedly trudged back into the 10th Division area. It had already been only a couple of days and she was already out of the psychological ward. Unohana-taicho, herself, had went to do the final check up for Naori and found nothing out of balance with her mind. After a careful (threatening) warning from Unohana to not create such a disturbance and trouble for the 4th Division, Naori happily walked (fled) right out of the division. That alone was one of the reasons she agreed to leave the 4th Division.

After going to her final check up, Naori had to go report to the Head Captain and receive her punishment for the three counts against her and for acting like the way she did. Luckily, Yamamoto had taken in her hysteria case in his mind and lowered the sentence a little for that purpose. What a nice old man he was.

Now, Naori had to report into the office to get whatever work Matsumoto had to throw at her. She walked down even further down the hallway, noticing how the officers passing by had gotten nervous of her presence. Naori sighed of her discontent and slid open the doors of the main office. It was dark inside with the lights closed and the curtains drawn. Naori found the light switch and once she turned it on, she gave a large gasp at the ghastly sight.

Naori quickly dashed up to the desk and picked up a sheet of paper there. Her eyes widened as she read the paper and they started to turn dull. Her lip trembled and her hands shook, fiercely shaking the paper as well. What was she to do now?

"Naori-chan! It's good to have you back in the-" A certain perky strawberry blonde dropped her sentence short as she noticed Naori.

Naori's eyes remained dull as she gazed up at Matsumoto. Her emotionless face stared deeply at Matsumoto as she held up the piece of paper. "Matsumoto-fukutaicho…" She softly said.

Matsumoto then freaked. "Oh no! Naori-chan's gone crazy again! Quick! Somebody get the sake, the remote, the nurse costumes, bubblegum, and neon lights!"

"Matsumoto-fukutaicho! This is no laughing matter! You got paperwork that's fifteen weeks overdue! In fact, Hitsugaya-taicho and I weren't even gone that long!" Naori shouted to get the woman to stop rambling.

"Oh…that…" Matsumoto sheepishly said. "It's only a teeny weensy bit of paperwork! It's not a lot."

Not a lot. Naori seriously needed to reprogram every electric impulse that was currently running through Matsumoto's head. Seriously! She knew Matsumoto was a tad bit lazy, but this is way too much! Now, she's feeling what Hitsugaya has to go through every time it's paperwork day.

"Matsumoto-fukutaicho! If Hitsugaya-taicho is out, you should be taking responsibility as the leading officer. That means doing the paperwork that comes in." Naori scolded. Seriously, this was getting ridiculous for a fifth seat officer scolding her own lieutenant.

"Come on Naori-chan! Did your stay in the ward make you a bit cranky?" Matsumoto teased, playfully flicking Naori in the forehead.

Naori frowned and stubbornly narrowed her gaze at Matsumoto. Being the responsible one in the office was actually a pretty tough job when Hitsugaya wasn't there. Usually, he'd be the one doing the arguing with Matsumoto while Naori would occasionally hang around to listen in and read her manga and light novels.

"Matsumoto-fukutaicho…" Naori darkly muttered and pointed to the ten-foot tall stacks of paperwork. "Don't make a fifth seat like me have to tell you. Now please do your paperwork!"

Matsumoto stopped her teasing of the girl to actually think. But she smiled in a way that Naori wished she hadn't. "C'mon Naori-chan! Maybe tomorrow! Besides, I wanted to celebrate you finally getting out from the ward. Why not party on your first day of freedom?"

Naori sighed. How can a lieutenant like her not understand? "I can't! Don't you remember my punishment for those three counts against me?"

"Yep I remember them. Let's see…" Matsumoto said and started counting her fingers. "One is for almost killing an innocent human. Another for attacking a captain and another for resisting arrest."

"You don't have to remind me." Naori glumly said. "And you were already notified of my full punishment. I'm stuck taking personal counseling and almost 24 months of community service!"

"It can't be that bad!" Matsumoto optimistically remarked.

"That's two years with a smaller paycheck." Naori frowned at her obliviousness. She shook her head and walked up to the captain's desk and grabbed the first stack she saw. Plopping down on her knees in front of the coffee table, she pulled the first couple of sheets and started working on the first page.

"What are you doing?" Matsumoto asked and peeked over the coffee table.

"Your paperwork since you're obviously not going to do it." Naori grumbled. For her, it merely was just really extended paperwork that Matsumoto left for her to do. She didn't worry since she is the one who does Matsumoto's paperwork whenever she's off drinking.

"Aww! How sweet! You're already working hard on your first day out of the psychological ward." Matsumoto fawned over her in a sickly sweet voice, mostly because she had no more paperwork to do.

After that, a long time that lasted only a few minutes passed between the two females.

"Matsumoto-fukutaicho. Unless you want to actually do your job and do your paperwork, why are you still here?" Naori asked after a couple of minutes of speedwriting through the stack of paperwork.

"Oh yeah! That's right!" Matsumoto suddenly exclaimed. "The Shinigami Women's Association wants you to come to their meeting today. They want an exclusive on you! Isn't that nice?"

"Joy." Naori sarcastically answered. "Tell them I refuse. The last thing I want is even more bad publicity. Besides, I'm not even a member and I have all this paperwork to finish up. For you."

"Come on Naori-chan!" Matsumoto whined and tugged on Naori's arm. "You're going to lose your youth if you cramp yourself in the office doing paperwork."

"I rather have that than being freeze dried." Naori argued back and pulled her arm back. "Besides, I'm not ready to come to terms yet." She softly mumbled under her breath.

Matsumoto slowly softened her gaze at the miserable look that Naori's eyes mirrored. She still wasn't ready. Even after those long stays in the 4th Division and the comfort of both Hinamori and herself, she still wasn't ready. Okay. Maybe she was being a bit too ignorant about Naori's mental state right now. Even now, she was still in the worse condition she could be.

"Okay fine." Matsumoto said and stood up, brushing the dust of her knees. "I'll cancel the interview the Shinigami Women's Association wanted to have."

"Great." Naori sighed and she dipped the pen into a nearby jar of ink. She was really dead set on getting this paperwork all finished before he came back…if he came back that is. She really didn't know but right now, she really didn't want to see him if he did come back.

"But" Matsumoto's voice broke through her thoughts. "I'm still bringing you to our meeting. You desperately need some fun! And some girl advice too!"

"What!" Naori managed to gasp out before feeling her body lifted high from the coffee table and settled on Matsumoto's shoulder. She looked down and saw that the coffee table was getting farther and farther away from her. Oh no! She was getting hauled right out of the office!

"Hinamori! I got her!" Matsumoto called down to the nearby lieutenant.

"Matsumoto-fukutaicho! Unhand me now! Let me down!" Naori whined as she struggled from Matsumoto's grip. But from afar, she looked like a playful little child, kicking her arms and legs up, as the older person was carrying her away on their shoulder. She looked like a complete kid actually.

"Thank goodness!" Hinamori softly said with a smile. "I was getting worried that she was going to refuse. We should go now while she's here with us."

"Hinamori-fukutaicho! Not you too!" Naori cried out before only seeing the wind fly by her. Great! Now they're flash stepping. She was definitely going to be a long way from that paperwork.

"We're here!" Matsumoto announced once she stopped.

Naori peeked back behind her to see what was a grand hallway and they were facing a wall. The place they arrived was huge and there was so much legroom everywhere. In fact, there was already a courtyard spotted outside the window. Who could own such a lavish place to live-Wait! Never mind. She spotted the Kuchiki emblem already.

"Welcome." Isane said and she opened the door to let the three in. Once Matsumoto entered the room fully, she dropped off Naori from her shoulders. Isane spotted the girl hit the floor and smiled. "Why hello Naori! It's good to see you back in full health!"

Naori winced as the pain shot up from her behind and she attentively rubbed it as she tried to sit up. Suddenly, something came flying at her and it slammed her back to the floor. Naori managed to open up one eye to see a pink fluff smiling down at her.

"Hi Yan-chan! You came to play!" Yachiru happily exclaimed.

"Eh? Yan-chan?" Naori felt so confused as Yachiru was pulled off of her and hushed down by Matsumoto.

"Don't say that Yachiru. Don't provoke her." Matsumoto whispered.

"Why don't you sit down?" Nanao said and she gestured Naori to the table situated in the middle of the room. It was big and circular and it had a lot of sweets sitting smack in the middle for everyone to grab.

"Thank you." Naori nervously said as she sat down. But right afterwards, ten pairs of anxious eyes, just staring at her, greeted her.

"So. Tell us what happened." Nanao said as she pushed up the glasses on her face with the shine effectively hiding her eyes.

"Wait a minute! You said this wasn't going to be no interview!" Naori frantically asked as she gazed at Matsumoto.

"No worries Naori Hibana." Nanao calmly said, "We are not planning to spread out your story to all of Soul Society. That is for the Seireitei Communication to handle. I believe they're going to be asking for a schedule with you."

"Oh…so you girls are here to gossip." Naori deadpanned at them.

"Precisely." Nanao confirmed.

Naori sighed and she nervously scratched the back of her head. The fact she was still here was getting more and more meaningless to her. She really should be getting back to that paperwork sitting on Hitsugaya's desk. "Sorry but I have to-"

"Please Naori-chan! I also want to hear what happened. Now and then!" Hinamori urged.

Okay. Maybe she could just stay here for only a few seconds since Hinamori wanted her to.

* * *

Hitsugaya stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom as a ticking clock sounded. It had only been around a couple of days since Hinamori had called and he was still in a bad state. Once he went back to Soul Society, he was going to have to immediately report to Yamamoto. This could mean only bad news. Yamamoto never really took insubordination lightly.

Hitsugaya glanced over at the reading table beside him. There sat a newspaper he had picked up just a week back. It was the plain ones anyone could see being thrown out to people's doorstep. Articles, sports details, advertisements were all in there. On the front page of that newspaper was an article about a girl being a severe condition due to a car crash. Of course he was no professional like Naori, but he managed to fake it enough to look like a car incident. Right now, only the people in the hospital could take care of her.

But he shouldn't be worrying about her right now or the fated meeting with Yamamoto, what he should be putting his mind into is whether Naori would be anywhere near him once he went back. He definitely didn't want to see her now. It would be too awkward and he wasn't sure if she could handle it. Neither could he.

Hitsugaya flipped to his side and spotted what seemed to be another item sitting on the reading table. He reached out and picked it up, finding it to be a memo pad. The neat little handwriting made no mistake that it was definitely Naori's. It seemed she wanted to remind him of something about two weeks ago. She should've known he never looked at this thing anyways. The idiot.

Hitsugaya brought the memo closer to him to read the tiny print.

**Hitsugaya-taicho**

**You look a little wiped out yesterday. How about I make some sweet natto for lunch? Hinamori-fukutaicho says it always works.**

**[Cute smiley face doodle]**

**Naori Hibana**

Reading the print, he couldn't help but notice that Naori seemed so normal and happy when she wrote this. Whatever happened to make her snap all of a sudden? Everything was going pretty okay till then.

Maybe it was something long ago that made her mad? Maybe she was just suppressing it till now? He racked through his brain, trying to remember what had happened in the past that made Naori like this today. He remembered those significant times, but nothing else afterwards.

"You know… Naori…" Hitsugaya said to himself. "I've only known you for only a couple of years…"

* * *

"You see…" Naori said to the listening group. "I've only known him for a couple of years starting when I first entered his division…"

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"But many things have happened…" Hitsugaya rolled back up to face the ceiling again.

* * *

Naori warmly smiled as she leaned back to gaze up at the ceiling. It looked pretty blank to her, but in her mind, it looked like a wonderful display of many playing pictures.

* * *

"What a long journey it was…"

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For those who didn't get the "Yan-chan" nickname from Yachiru. Explanation: The word "Yan" means sick or deranged in translation. This word forms the basis of other words such as "Yandere" or "Yangire". Since Naori, in a way, is sick and deranged, her nickname is therefore "Yan-chan". The "-chan" is just in there for the sake of cuteness. It's Yachiru for crying out loud.

_Also, another special notice. What you are going to witness in the following chapters is nothing but HitsuXNao fluff or fluffy flashbacks of the past. I believe that makes up for all that Amui stuff I've been throwing at you. Better enjoy them._

_Maybe you should review after reading the special notice._


	21. Memories: A New Recruit

_Awww!! No one's reviewing. That just amkes me sad... Also, as you know, the next couple of chapters are going to be a huge flashback in the past. Just letting you know. I don't know how long I'm going to make this to the current time frame though. Anyways, enjoy!!!_

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Memories: A New Recruit

_Bringing time backwards in its line_

Hitsugaya stared down at the seat of the office couches in complete disbelief. To any passing people: they would usually compliment on how nice and orderly his office was. To him: he could make a huge list on the spot on how bad his office was since the five minutes he left. Paperwork untouched and not finished. Check. His desk almost filled with towers of said paperwork. Check. Bottles of sake and the lazy, moronic, stupid lieutenant of his sleeping on the couch. Check. His chair not pushed in! Check.

"Matsumoto. Wake up!" Hitsugaya grumbled and prodded the lazy lieutenant with the tip of his sword right on her stomach.

"No. No. Not there! Not there!" Matsumoto half squealed and half mumbled in her sleep. She slightly stirred, but still didn't wake up, and the luminescent blush still hung on her cheeks.

Oh God… He didn't even want to know what the hell she was dreaming about. But if he had poked a bit lower…no. Forget it. Hitsugaya shook his head fiercely to get the unnecessary overrated images out of his head and prepared for a "MATSUMOTO!!!!!!"

"Aaah!!" Matsumoto screamed and fell right out of her couch. She rubbed her head and glanced up at whoever would wake her. "Captain!!! You scared me!"

"Get up Matsumoto." Hitsugaya strictly ordered.

"Why!? It's only the afternoon!" Matsumoto whined and pouted.

"Exactly! Do you remember what's happening today?" Hitsugaya asked, lifting his eyebrow in questioning.

"Hmm…." Matsumoto deeply thought, putting a single finger on her chin for emphasis. Then, she snapped her fingers at the 'I got it!' moment. "Oh! That's right! The new recruits are coming in."

"Yes. So get your butt off that couch and lets go already!" Hitsugaya shouted at her and briskly went out the door.

"No! Forget it! It's such a bore!" Matsumoto exclaimed.

Hitsugaya briefly stopped in his walk out to go back to his lieutenant, fully prepared to drag her out if necessary. But first, he needed to question her. "And why not?"

"I already said it! It's boring!" Matsumoto greatly repeated herself.

"And why? I thought you like meeting new people?" Hitsugaya pointed out.

Matsumoto frowned. Of course, she loved meeting new people! She loved new people so much that complete strangers were immediate friends to her. The formula was simple. New people equaled new friends, which equaled new drinking buddies, which equaled less money for her sake! Simple as that! But the problem with the new recruits was that Hitsugaya had always managed to get to them before she does and he practically bore them into mindless, hardworking zombies that do nothing but work!

"No answer. Fine. Let's go." Hitsugaya concluded before Matsumoto could finish and headed out the door again.

Matsumoto frowned a bit and followed after her captain. But suddenly, a brilliant idea just popped right in her head! "Captain!!"

"What is it now?" Hitsugaya grumbled. He was definitely not in the mood for small talk with Matsumoto. In fact, he didn't even want to go get the new recruits of his division. But since Matsumoto's too lazy for even that, he had to go get them himself.

"Captain! Who are the new recruits?" Matsumoto asked, momentarily jumping in front of Hitsugaya. "I hope we get a girl in our ranks this time! All the high seats are so full of men that it's getting boring!"

Hitsugaya slightly flinched a little at the sight of his lieutenant's…assets…waving in his face. But he's seen that for so many times, it's not much of a surprise for him anymore. "How am I supposed to know? I haven't seen them. Just the paperwork that you were supposed to fill out about them." He grumbled and nudged the busty lieutenant out of his way.

"So…do we get a girl?" Matsumoto asked again, perking up her innocent face.

"Like I said! I don't know." Hitsugaya answered her again but something in his head made him stop to think about it. Did they get a girl? He couldn't remember, but there was something in that paperwork that Unohana sent him. Something about one of her division members being transferred over to his division. But he just couldn't remember what. They had continued walking down the building until bumping into a familiar figure and a large group of people.

"Shiro-chan! Hi!" Hinamori exclaimed being a quite bit surprised.

"Hitsugaya-taicho!" Hitsugaya hastily corrected her, but a bit too loud that Hinamori's new recruits could hear him.

"Oh my god! He's a captain!" Rings of voices started coming out from the crowd of the new 5th Divisioners. "He's a captain! It's amazing! But he's only a kid! And he's so short too!"

"What was that?" Hitsugaya demanded, his fuse already blown out completely.

"I'm sorry. Hitsugaya-kun." Hinamori sheepishly apologized. "Aizen-taicho is out today and I'm supposed to retrieve the new recruits in his place. But this crowd's a bit rowdier than the last. Isn't that something?"

"A bit…" Hitsugaya flatly said and Hinamori nodded her head. He evaluated the new people that Hinamori had to retrieve. They seemed to be a bit too much for her to handle though. "Well…I guess I can help out for Aizen and all…it's not much of a trouble anyways…"

"Really!?" Hinamori eagerly asked and Hitsugaya nodded his head. She squealed in great happiness and quickly grabbed for Hitsugaya's arm and dragged him away.

"Matsumoto! You go gather the new recruits in my place!" Hitsugaya called back to his dazed at the moment lieutenant.

"Yes sir!" Matsumoto called back but smiled like a complete devil afterwards. Finally…it's time to have some fun!

She confidently slammed open the doors of where the supposed new recruits were. Several shinigami heads turned to her, some ogling at the areas under her face and others frowning at her because they didn't realize she was actually lieutenant and they thought she was being those overconfident shinigami. Either way, Matsumoto caused a pretty big scene. Big enough that even a shinigami in the farthest end of the room could see her among the taller shinigami around her.

Matsumoto scanned the room of the new people that were going to be in the 10th Division. All was disappointing. They were all men and they looked like they were all ready for work! This was already a bore! But Matsumoto soon caught onto a shining yellow glare coming off from the farthest end of the room. She spotted a young _female_ shinigami standing straight against the wall, staring right back at her. Matsumoto only managed to pick out the standard uniform, the dark blue hair color, and the bright golden eyes of the young girl.

Oh well! Matsumoto planned on having fun with these new shinigami anyways.

"Hi! Welcome to the 10th Division!" Matsumoto loudly announced. "It's the division where you get to drink lots and lots of sake and play fun games!"

* * *

Hitsugaya felt his eyes twitch suddenly and his fingers flinching every now and then. He had just finished helping out with Hinamori's recruits and he assumed Matsumoto had handled his own division. But what he didn't expect was half of the new shinigami laying sprawled around his office half drunk. In fact, why were those shinigami in his office anyway? It probably had something to do with that dumb lieutenant of his.

"How troublesome." Hitsugaya mumbled and raked his fingers through his silver hair. This day just couldn't get any worse now can it? Cleaning up after Matsumoto's work had always been a trouble. "Attention!!" Hitsugaya shouted, authority clear in his voice.

Several shinigami turned heads once they noticed the commanding voice. Some had to take a double take because they thought they saw a captain. Some even had to do a triple take to notice it was their division's captain. In a matter of seconds, the new members frantically scurried around, got into a straight orderly line, awaiting Hitsugaya like real soldiers.

"I assume that a lieutenant brought you down here correct?" Hitsugaya said and he moved down the aisles that the new shinigami formed. "Well, I also assume that she told you some other things and I'm here to inform you that it is all false. I'm the leading officer of this division and I run things very differently. I'm expecting every single one of you to be orderly and hardworking. I expect things to be on time and missions and operations to be completed completely. Now, I want you to answer my question: Where did the lieutenant go?"

"Yes sir!" One of the new shinigami stood out of his line, ready to report. "I recently spotted Matsumoto-fukutaicho walking out of this office a couple hours ago and…"

"And what? Answer." Hitsugaya demanded, glaring dagger eyed at the shinigami.

"And she took one of the new recruits with her. I'm not sure if the new girl is a transferred officer or someone just out of the Academy."

"If you speak that the shinigami is a female, then that shinigami is the transferring officer. You are all dismissed." Hitsugaya said and shuffled through his papers, flicking through all the profile pages until he found the one he wanted.

The new shinigami glanced at each other before filing out of the office and dispersing throughout the entire division area. However, Hitsugaya stayed in his office to go over the file of the new girl that Matsumoto had supposedly kidnapped.

It turns out she was a former officer under the 4th Division and in her time spent there, she had dealt with first aid healing and paperwork filing. It seems like Unohana recommended her to be the fifth seat in his division because her fighting abilities exceeds that of her healing capabilities. Her stats indicated she was an all around average shinigami except she never had a first hand account in real battle. That's what to expect from any 4th Division officer anyway. She looked around his age or Hinamori's with bright golden eyes and shoulder length dark blue hair with yellow beads hanging off her side bangs. Oh. And her name was Naori Hibana.

Her name reeked of mischief. Something he definitely didn't like. Hitsugaya flung the profile paper back onto his desk and glanced up at the clock nearby. It would only take a couple of minutes before they come back…

"Captain!!! I'm back!" A loud voice penetrated the quiet office and Matsumoto practically kicked her way through the door. She smiled a huge grin and pulled out a small girl behind him. "Look! We got a cute little girl in our division now! Isn't that great!"

The young shinigami glanced around, marveled at what she was seeing. She had an innocent, wide-eyed look to her face reminiscent of that of a child and she was actually almost as tall as Hitsugaya himself. Then she spotted the short captain looking on at her and she smiled a huge grin. "What a big office you have! It's bigger than the one back at Fourth!"

"I heard she's going to be the fifth seat! Isn't that great!" Matsumoto gleamed.

"Thank you for the compliment." Hitsugaya mumbled. Bubbly, cheerful, and laid back. She had somewhat of a personality that seemed to match Matsumoto's in more ways than one. Let's hope she doesn't pick up any habits from Matsumoto. One was enough.

"My name is Naori Hibana! What's yours?" Naori cheerfully introduced, reaching out her hand for Hitsugaya.

"Captain of 10th Division, Hitsugaya Toushirou." Hitsugaya replied, firmly shaking her hand.

"Really!? But you're not even as tall as me!" Naori exclaimed and maneuvered her hand so it was now on Hitsugaya's head, earning his irritation glare. She placed a hand on her head and measured the both of them. "That can't be right! When is your birthday anyways?"

"December 20th." Hitsugaya seethed through his teeth. He felt like he really, really needed to hit her…or maybe freeze her. It had only been twenty full seconds and he didn't like her at all. She was already annoying to him, maybe even up to Matsumoto's caliber.

"Oh! Then, never mind! You're actually younger than me! See, my birthday's October 5th." Naori grinned and ruffled Hitsugaya's spiky hair.

"Get your hands off me!" Hitsugaya demanded and slapped her hand away from his head.

Naori attentively rubbed the hand that had just been slapped. She now had this puppy face on and she looked a bit whiny. This could not be good. "You're mean! I didn't think my new captain was this mean!"

"Matsumoto." Hitsugaya grumbled and glared at his lieutenant. He suspected she was the influence of all this. He averted his gaze back at Naori, who still looked like she was in pain after he slapped her hand. "Look. You're under the 10th Division now. I am your captain so that means you follow what I say when I say it. Understand?" He informed her as the authority figure.

"Yeah. Yeah. I heard." Naori replied, making final checks on her hand. She made a slight frown once she saw one of her nails had been chipped.

"Seriously. Do you know what I mean as your captain?" Hitsugaya demanded, getting even more ticked off at her attitude at the moment.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got it!_ Hitsu-kun!_" Naori happily said the last words with a sickly sweet tone.

A momentary pause erupted between the two.

"What. Was. That. Again?" Hitsugaya growled at her between gritted teeth.

Naori was still smiling at him, acting like she had done nothing wrong when she actually did. Big time. Even Matsumoto could sense his anger seething through his body and dropping the room temperature by a new record of two degrees. Matsumoto quickly backed herself up against a wall and afterwards, disappeared behind the nearby door. Naori stood there, smiling at her captain like a total idiot.

"Hitsu-kun!" She repeated again.

At that moment, he could accurately predict from now that he and Naori will not get along at all. And he was right.

For the next couple of days, everything Naori did aggravated him till no ends. Every time she reported in, she kept referring to Hitsugaya as a cute "Hitsu-kun!" nickname instead of the appropriate title of a captain. She had a cheerful and upbeat personality wherever she went, like Matsumoto, and it was almost sickly, like Matsumoto. Also, the way she brewed his tea made him sick. For some reason, she puts a whole lot of sugar in his tea. Who puts so much sugar in tea anyways? Even the paperwork she turned in irritated him. Her writing was fine, neat and proper, except for the fact it was tiny as hell that he had to use a magnifying glass to read it clearly. What was it at? A point four size? Even Iba-fukutaicho had considered getting the short captain some reading glasses.

Sure, Hitsugaya could have transferred her over to another division to handle her. But Matsumoto insisted on keeping her like a child had just found an abandoned stray animal. Every time he considered talking about transferring Naori, Matsumoto would butt in and exclaim, "No! I want to keep her! She's staying!"

Hitsugaya did eventually get some mutual respect from her. Naori still called him with a dumb nickname and every time, he had to correct her for it. Sometimes, even threatening to place a high leveled binding spell on her mouth or just plain freezing her. But Naori, at least, called him "Hitsugaya-taicho" once when she was filling out a form that said: Name of captain here. And it was _only _that time.

But there was eventually a time where he had snapped. The time was only a week from the day Naori had first come into the division. She met Hinamori just outside his office and they chatted for some time. When Naori came to report in, Hitsugaya would expect to hear that dumb nickname again. That "Hitsu-kun" nickname that Naori insisted on calling him. But unfortunately, instead…

"Shiro-chan!!" Naori enthusiastically greeted.

Hitsugaya gritted his teeth and pulsating veins appeared right on his temples. That was it! "Hibana!" He roared, shaking up the books in the wall high shelves.

"What is it?" Naori asked, completely unaffected by the tense atmosphere.

"You and I are going to have a talk. Now!"

* * *

"Hey! Were you just relieved?" One shinigami of the 10th Division asked to his coworkers.

The second shook his head and smiled. "Nah. I'm just taking a short break."

"You shouldn't do that." The shinigami said with a worried tone. "Or else. The fifth seat, Naori Hibana-san, is going to find out."

"I wouldn't worry! She and I were in the same group of recruits when we first came into this division. She's really a nice, carefree little girl who is a former 4th Division member. She's not going to do any harm." The shinigami answered in a laidback tone.

"Not after _The Talk_." The second shinigami replied, shaking his head.

"_The Talk_? What's _The Talk_?" The skipping his work shinigami questioned.

"Even I don't know what it is. Rumor has it that Hitsugaya-taicho only issues _The Talk _if someone is really bothering him. Let it be either not doing your work or just being plain annoying to him." The second shinigami answered in a hushed tone. "I don't know what happens during _The Talk,_ but I heard the survivors that come out are not the same as they were when they went in. In fact, I think the only one who ever came out unscathed was Matsumoto-fukutaicho."

"Really!? You mean…" The first gasped.

The second shinigami nodded his head in agreement. "So if I were you, I would quickly go back to my shift and…"

"What are you two whispering about over there?" A loud voice interrupted the two shinigami.

"N-N-Naori-san!" The two shinigami exclaimed in surprise.

Naori haughtily walked up to the two. Her hands firmly placed on her waist and a noticeable dull look was shown on her face. But that dull look was slowly turning into a frown as Naori soon recognized the two shinigami. She came up closely to the two and stared up at their faces, her lips slowly forming into a scowl.

"The one on the left." She said with authority, but her voice still held a light tone. "You. You are supposed to be on duty right now. Are you slacking off again?"

"W-Well no! I'm just about to get back to work!" The first shinigami fumbled around with his answer.

"You better. Or else, I'm going to have to deal with your punishment, the one that Hitsugaya-taicho gave me the right to issue over you since I'm one of the high ranking officers in this division." Naori warned, her voice still light but held an intimidating, almost murderous tone. "You best get back to work. I know you've already slacked off four times. I just let you go those times because I know you are smart enough to not take advantage of a person like me overseeing your work. Aren't you?"

"Y-Yes ma'am! I'll get back to work!" The shinigami frantically stuttered and ran off as fast as possible.

"Goodness…" The other shinigami mumbled as he watched his coworker scurry off.

Of course, Naori noticed him as well. She went up to the shinigami, who was about five heads taller than her, and tugged onto the sleeve of his uniform. "Excuse me?" She asked, her voice returning back into its normal tone.

"Yes? Naori-san?" The shinigami replied.

"Don't you have work to do as well?" Naori asked, momentarily cocking her head to the side.

"Not at the time, no. But I don't really plan on doing anything until my superior issues something for me." The shinigami politely answered.

"Then why don't you sort through the old files in the Records room?" Naori suggested.

"Uh…well…um…you see…" The shinigami nervously fumbled while scratching the back of his head.

"It's best that you do." Naori softly said with her bangs momentarily covering her eyes. Her voice had that somewhat sharp edge to its tone again. "You should do the job I issued to you. I am your superior, aren't I? A good officer always follows the orders of his superior. If the officer doesn't, something terrible may come to him."

The shinigami sighed and gently pushed Naori off his arm. "As you wish, Naori-san." He said and briskly walked away.

Naori gazed on as the shinigami turned the corner and his footsteps had turned soft and distant. She sighed and turned to walk away as well. Her purpose was already served anyways. She should be getting on with her free time.

"Wow…I know I told you to get those slackers back in line, but I never expected you to intimidate them into submission. I guess Unohana-taicho rubs off on you too." A cocky voice rang through the hallway. Naori averted around her and saw her own captain smirking at her, leaning against the wall just behind her.

"I did what you told me to. Wasn't that the order? Hitsugaya-taicho?" Naori almost monotonously replied back to her captain.

"Right, I know. Hibana." Hitsugaya smirked and came out of the shadows and into the same light as Naori. He watched in glee as Naori's face went from a relaxed look to a frustrated scowl.

"When are you going to stop calling me like that?" Naori venomously asked.

_

* * *

_

Wow...never expected for Naori to be a bubbly person before now didn't you? I just love how Hitsugaya can break her in less than a page of writing. In clarity, it's because of Hitsugaya that Naori is no longer happy and bubbly like Matsumoto. Anyways, next chapter is in who knows how long.

_Review!!!!!!_


	22. Memories: Names and Titles

_Finally!!! I got some vacation time!! But my time is going to be all used up for schoolwork, essays, and long term assignments. Damn you school! Anyways, another chapter in this story has been included. I might not be typing much since I'm also working on another story for the site. Expect updates to not be weekly anymore._

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* * *

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Memories: Names And Titles

"Naori-chan. Did I ever tell you how mischievous your name sounds?" Hinamori once remarked.

"Yes. People always think I'm trouble because of my name." Naori replied back. It was true that parts of her name meant mischief and cleverness. "But I never really minded because I never act like they expect."

"That's so bull!" A loud voice rang out through the once peaceful office. Hitsugaya smirked at the three females as he leaned against the door with his arms crossed. He quickly uncrossed his arms and strode to the middle of the room. Both Hinamori and Matsumoto looked quite enthusiastic when he arrived. Naori, on the other hand, simply kept her straight face and organized the paperwork that Matsumoto managed to finish.

"Hi Shiro-chan!" Hinamori greeted her best friend as he came.

"It's Hitsugaya-taicho. Hinamori." Hitsugaya simply replied, getting a bit annoyed.

"Hitsugaya-taicho! You're back already!" Matsumoto remarked.

"Those stupid bandits in Rukongai never stood a chance." Hitsugaya snidely remarked with Matsumoto getting very mildly amused at his overconfidence.

"Captain." Naori mumbled in aggravation once she passed by him with the completed paperwork.

"Hibana." Hitsugaya remarked back with a significant popping vein striking up in his forehead.

Naori quickly averted position with her eyes narrowing at her captain. Boy, did he love annoying her with that referent. She absolutely hated it when he called her that! It had only been a few months and them both were still not in good terms. She predicted if they were always like this to each other, they would never get along.

"Oh by the way." Hitsugaya said and picked up another stack of papers. "I'm going to be out again tonight so you need to finish this stack before midnight."

"What do you even do at night? And why do I always have to do your paperwork when you're out?" Naori gritted her teeth as she was handed over the stack of papers. Another thing she hated was that he always pushed his work onto her during the nighttime. Because of this, she usually found herself falling asleep in his office or staying awake all night and barely staying awake during the day.

"Why do you need to know? Just follow my orders like an officer is supposed to." Hitsugaya snapped back at her.

"But-" Naori tried to argue back.

"Besides, I think you were already informed about how this division runs. Or should I remind you again?" Hitsugaya asked, raising an eyebrow.

Naori angrily groaned and she stalked off out of the office with the paperwork. She felt her anger searing through her own skin. These are one of those times when she felt she needed to bonk him in the head and turn him back to two feet! But right now, she really needed to hit something! Once out and a couple of miles of flash stepping, she quickly dropped all the paperwork to the floor and leaned herself against the nearby wall. Her eyes stayed hidden behind her overhanging bangs and she angrily balled up her fist and slammed it into the wall beside her. "Hitsugaya…you…JERK!!!!!!"

Back in the office, Matsumoto frowned at her captain, finding the whole situation to be unsatisfying. "Taicho!! Now that was just too mean!" She whined out loud.

"Hitsugaya-kun. Are you still mad that she called you with nicknames a few months ago." Hinamori asked, hitting the bull's eye.

"Don't get yourself involved Hinamori. It's only between her and me." Hitsugaya shrugged off and sat back in his seat at the desk.

"But try to be a bit easier on her. She is still new to your division." Hinamori optimistically suggested.

"Yeah! What happened was months ago! Get over it!" Matsumoto remarked as well.

"Shut up Matsumoto." Hitsugaya mumbled. "Besides, you have some extra paperwork I want you to finish up."

"Later! But right now, we have to discuss your relationship with Naori-chan!" Matsumoto quickly said and sat right on top of Hitsugaya's desk.

"Since when do you call her like that?" Hitsugaya said with the powerful urge to just push his lieutenant right off his desk. Too bad Hinamori was in the room so he couldn't do just that.

"Because she let me!" Matsumoto quickly answered but continued with her interrogation. "So! When are you going to start being more of a gentleman towards Naori-chan?"

"I already did. First day. She screwed it up." Hitsugaya simply answered back as he did some of the leftover paperwork. Thankfully, Naori had been a bit useful to him since she was always forced to do the paperwork. He'd call that total payback for himself.

"But when are you going to be nice to her? You're always torturing her with paperwork." Hinamori said with a worried frown.

"That is her punishment." Hitsugaya replied back.

"C'mon Taicho! I know there's a lot of tension between you two, but isn't it time to let it go?" Matsumoto asked as she leaned over to be right in front of her captain's face.

"Why don't you ask Hibana that?" Hitsugaya told her and nudged his lieutenant out of his sight by prodding her forehead with his finger.

"I did! But she would just glare at me and start ranting about how horrible you are." Matsumoto told him and rubbed her forehead a little. Her captain can sure jab hard!

"Is that so?" Hitsugaya mumbled, pausing a little during his work. Sure he was mildly enjoying all the mental and physical torture he had been putting Naori through. But he never expected for it all to be a straight up bitter relationship between them.

"Hitsugaya-kun! You're being heartless right now!" Hinamori scolded him. "Do you know how many times I find Naori-chan sleeping in here?"

"Many, many times." Hitsugaya boringly answered at the same time Hinamori answered her own question.

"This is impossible! You two are never going to make up!" Hinamori exclaimed in frustration and collapsed back onto the couch. She felt a quenching thirst after all that yelling and reached out for her cup of tea.

"I wouldn't drink that if I were you." Hitsugaya warned.

"What's wrong with it? I'm sure that Naori-chan can make good tea." Matsumoto said.

They both took a huge sip out of that tea but only moments later, they both spat out the tea in surprise. Hinamori coughed a little and wiped her mouth with the sleeves of her uniform. Matsumoto just kept spitting and spitting, holding her tongue out to let the leftover tea drip out. It became so sweet that it tasted so weird! It tasted like somebody had dunked a whole pound of sugar right into the cup!

"I told you so." Hitsugaya said, acknowledging how their ignorance got to them. "Hibana puts way too much sugar in her tea, it gets so vile. What a seated officer she is! She even can't make tea right. All she can do in this division is complete paperwork."

"Oh. Is that so?" A nostalgic soft voice asked right outside the door. Naori walked in with an almost emotionless face and her eyes turned to a dull color. Her arms hung at her sides and she walked with a little teeter in her steps. She slid right past Hinamori and Matsumoto and headed right towards Hitsugaya.

"What is it?" Hitsugaya asked, glancing up only briefly.

"Hitsugaya…you…" Naori darkly said.

Her body suddenly began to glow a light golden color. Electrifying energy shot right out of her body and blew out the lights in the room. The lights above exploded in a huge bang and shards of glass came falling down at the group. Hinamori yelped in fear as she quickly flash stepped here and there to avoid the falling glass. Matsumoto flash stepped over to a corner of the room where there were no lights present while Hitsugaya, being the quick witted one, simply placed a barrier up. Naori stood in the middle of the debris, unbeknownst of all the damage she just did.

"Good job. You just ruined the office." Hitsugaya remarked.

"It's your fault, you know." Naori calmly said after noticing her actions.

"And how is this my fault?" He replied back.

Matsumoto and Hinamori watched in fear as the two exchanged very _composed_ insults and comebacks at one another. Their calm fury had always been a bit too terrifying for Hinamori and Matsumoto to handle. In fact, the dull arguing between Naori and Hitsugaya completely defined how they were to each other: always calm and collected.

"Do you want to make something of it?" Hitsugaya challenged.

"Okay. That sounds quite interesting." Naori replied with a light smile. "Let's make a bet out of it. First one to crack loses."

"Fine. If I win, you will completely follow my every order with no questions." Hitsugaya said. He could just imagine the girl following his every little whim.

"But if I win, you have to always call me by my first name and I get to call you whatever I choose." Naori replied back.

"Fine deal." Hitsugaya said, reaching out his hand.

Naori steadily took it, but she maneuvered it so their hands clasped onto each other around the base of the thumb. It was more like a shake between friends than a formal one. Hitsugaya was a bit put off by such friendliness but he played along for now. Naori, for once, actually gave a tiny smile to him as they shook hands. Yet such a friendly confrontment would soon end. Their deal was on!

* * *

Matsumoto playfully fiddled around with her Hell Butterfly as she stood watch over her captain. "Hinamori! Remind me again why we're along with this?" Matsumoto asked to the insect.

"Hitsugaya-kun and Naori-chan requested us to be their referees." Hinamori answered. "We have to watch for the first one to break expression."

"But that's impossible!" Matsumoto loudly whined, earning a pulsing vein from her captain. "Hinamori! It's impossible! Both of them can hold a complete poker face for at least five days straight!"

"But both of them are ill-tempered spirits." Hinamori reminded her. "They can still break with anything bad towards them."

Matsumoto sighed and she quickly released the Hell Butterfly away so it could return back home. She quickly glanced behind her to see if her captain had been paying attention. Good thing he wasn't. Matsumoto sighed once more and she attentively rolled up her sleeves. She was going to have to work super hard to get her own captain to break his completely straight face. If it weren't for Naori and her sake bribe, then she might have not agreed to do it.

"Taicho!!!!!" Matsumoto exclaimed in a sickly sweet voice and she hugged her captain from behind. "Hey! Hey! Whatcha doing?" She flirtingly said into his ear.

"Matsumoto. Get back to that paperwork I assigned you." Hitsugaya said, not even looking at her.

**FAIL!**

Hinamori had already finished her usual deliveries of papers so she had most of the day off. She wandered around the entire 10th Division, trying to find the target she had been assigned. Hinamori soon caught eye to a familiar dark blue head working in her quarters. Naori was trying to quickly finish her usual overload of documents from Hitsugaya while eating at the same time. Hinamori strode into the room and sat right in front of Naori herself.

"What is it Hinamori-fukutaicho?" Naori asked, not even look up.

"Sorry for intruding. But I have some more documents from you." Hinamori said with a smile and held up the next huge stack.

"Put it on the table then." Naori quickly replied.

Hinamori sighed and placed the document copies right on the table. She glanced around at the neat orderly room of Naori's before looking at the working girl herself. She seemed quite organized and up to business. She's going to be a tough face to crack so it was going to be pretty challenging for Hinamori. She wondered why she ever accepted Hitsugaya's bribe of her paperwork going to Hitsugaya to finish.

Hinamori slowly leaned forward till her face was right in front of Naori's. "Say Naori-chan?" Hinamori pondered out loud.

"Yes Hinamori-fukutaicho." Naori responded.

"YOU ARE A STUPID, STUPID IDIOT!!!!" Hinamori suddenly screamed out loud. But a sudden burst of spiritual pressure coming from Kenpachi next door had completely blocked out any sound coming from her mouth.

Naori blinked. "You say something?"

**FAIL!**

"Taicho!! Taicho!! Taicho!! Taicho!! Hitsugaya-sama!! Hitsugaya-sama!! Hitsugaya-sama!! Hitsugaya-sama!! Hitsugaya-san! Hitsugaya-san! Hitsugaya-san! Hitsugaya-san! Hitsugaya-san! Toushirou! Toushirou! Toushirou! Toushirou! Toushirou! Hitsu-kun! Taicho! Taicho! Taicho! Taicho! Taicho! Shiro-chan! Shiro-chan! Shiro-chan! Shiro-chan!" Matsumoto continuously said over and over again.

Hitsugaya simply just continued working on his paperwork, successfully ignoring Matsumoto foolish antics.

Matsumoto frowned. Either her captain is really, really strong willed or that baby in that show has more skills in annoying people than she did. But it really should have worked on him! Especially that Shiro-chan nickname that was only reserved for Hinamori to call him! Matsumoto pouted and stomped out of the room in frustration.

Hitsugaya peeked over at the scorner of his eyes to see if his lieutenant was gone yet. Sighing, now that the coast was clear, he steadily took out the earplugs.

**FAIL!**

"Umm Naori-chan…" Hinamori shyly said as her face blushed bright red and she nervously twiddled around with her fingers.

Noticing her changing habits, Naori placed down her fountain pen and she glanced over at Hinamori's direction, fully having her attention on Hinamori. Though, she did have a bored look on her face that only showed a slight hint of curiosity.

"Naori-chan…you're the first one I told this to." Hinamori said and she ducked her face down, trying to hide her blushing face. "I never told this to anyone. Not even Rangiku-san. But…I REALLY LOVE HITSUGAYA-KUN!!!"

Naori stayed silent the whole time with Hinamori's supposed confession. "Oh." She monotonously said and picked up the fountain pen again. "So when's the honeymoon?"

Hinamori gaped. How embarrassing that was!

**FAIL!**

Matsumoto confidently smirked as she snuck over to the window right behind her captain's desk. Apparently, after checking with Hinamori, a surprised or shocked face is acceptable. With her captain's attention fully concentrated on that paperwork, she had the total advantage! Matsumoto quickly drew out her sword and aimed it at the window.

"Growl! Haineko!" She loudly commanded and gleefully watched the specks of dust fly right at her captain's window. He was going to get so pissed at her for doing this. But she's going to have sake everyday in his room!

The dust flew right into the window and it tore through the glass. The dust swiveled and aimed itself right at Hitsugaya…only to be knocked away by the barrier he _happened _to have up.

**PWN!**

Shit! That was the only word that ran through Matsumoto's mind as she quickly abandoned post and ran for her life. She quickly jumped out from the bushes she was hiding in and made the mad dash towards the garden walls.

"Sit upon the frozen heavens. Hyourinmaru." Hitsugaya calmly said and observed as his ice dragon flew out of his sword and chased after Matsumoto, completely encasing her with ice. Now she looked like some human Popsicle sculpture that actually went perfectly with the new pond they've installed outdoors.

**DOUBLE PWN!!**

"Rangiku-san!! This is impossible!" Hinamori tiredly complained as she collapsed head on into the nearby couch.

"You're telling me! I've tried everything to get captain upset!" Matsumoto whined, "I've already messed up his hair, paperwork, and hormones and he doesn't even flinch!"

"Naori-chan's hormones are also too strong to be conquered." Hinamori replied while blushing a little. "I tried your reveal-the-crush technique on her and she just goes into detail about how bad underage sex is."

"What's going to make one of them crack!? This is getting pretty ridiculous! I would do anything just to make one of them forfeit!" Matsumoto loudly complained into the open air.

"Excuse me. What would you two be talking about?" A voice asked from outside the door. Hinamori and Matsumoto averted their attention to the door and found a familiar female lieutenant holding her usual book outside.

"Nanao-fukutaicho. We're talking about how to make Hitsugaya-kun or Naori-chan lose in their bet." Hinamori informed her.

"Which is impossible because both of them are practically statues." Matsumoto added in.

"Judging on the situation…" Nanao frowned as she spoke and she readjusted her glasses as if she knew a perfect solution. "I could suggest you can play against the inexperienced side of this bet. That way, it gives more of an advantage to the experienced side. It's like my dumb captain who happens to like slipping shirtless pictures of himself into my book to see if I would submit." Nanao said in disgust and she shook her book, letting all the small photos fall out from the pages.

Matsumoto glanced at the somewhat okay pictures of the shirtless Captain Kyoraku and just like that, an idea came to her head! "I got it!" Matsumoto exclaimed and she jumped right out of her seat.

"Rangiku-san…" Hinamori said in astonishment.

"Quick Hinamori! You get Naori-chan!" Matsumoto ushered and pushed Hinamori out the door. "You get her and I'll get the camera and the pills!"

* * *

Hitsugaya tiredly closed the creaky door behind him. This was getting even more insane for him to handle! In his division, he had been known for being an almost emotionless captain. But Naori's almost a statue of utmost boredom if she needed to be. He could almost tire out any minute now! Hitsugaya glanced over at his desk and realized that Matsumoto had already ransacked it with her stuff. There were a couple of very big signs telling him to look at his desk or specifically the photo frames. The big arrow had also notified him of which specific photo he was going to have to see. A specific picture that Matsumoto really wants him to see…sounds very fishy… Whatever! It's best to just get it over with!

Hitsugaya quickly grabbed the wooden frame and flipped it over. Suddenly, he felt he needed to chuck that disturbing photo right out of the window! Right now, a bunch of his hormones are going crazy over that one photo. A sudden redness crept up to his cheeks as he quickly dropped the photo onto the floor. His hand quickly covered his mouth, trying to cover up any signs of sudden gasping.

"You lost Taicho!!!" A cheerful voice rang through the entire office. Matsumoto victoriously came out of her hiding spot with her camera in her hands.

"Shiro-chan, it's a good thing you lost. Now we don't have to worry much of the bet." Hinamori added once she stepped out as well.

"W-Wait M-M-Matsumoto!!" Hitsugaya frantically stammered.

"Don't worry Taicho! I know that you're a growing boy and you are bound to get to that stage sooner or later!" Matsumoto grinned at her very nervous and flustering captain.

"But I didn't expect for you to get so flustered over a simple picture this early." Hinamori piped in.

"You two! That's just playing dirty!" Hitsugaya yelled at them.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!" Matsumoto scolded, waving her finger in front of her captain's face. "Don't be such a sore loser! We were just planning to show the evidence of your loss to Naori-chan, but we might also show the reason of your loss if you don't accept."

Hitsugaya was about to say something back at her, but he sensed a troublesome presence outside of the door. Crap! He was ultimately stuck in the worst situation possible! What was he going to do now!? Submit.

"Fine. I lost." Hitsugaya unhappily grumbled just as Naori arrived at the door.

"Excuse me. What did you say?" Naori asked, sensing a bad presence coming from her captain.

"I lost okay!! Happy!" Hitsugaya yelled at her and stormed right out of the office.

Naori watched as the short captain of hers walked away from her, grumbling a bunch of stuff under his breath. She glanced back over at Matsumoto and Hinamori, questioning why one of them was smiling gratefully at her and the other was glancing out the door in worry. "Matsumoto-fukutaicho. Hinamori-fukutaicho. What happened here?" She curiously asked.

"Nothing much. You just won the bet. You should be happy." Matsumoto shrugged off and turned to the ransacked desk. "Time to clean up!"

"Naori-chan. Hitsugaya-kun's just upset he lost." Hinamori informed her as she walked out of the office.

Naori stood still at her spot, being only mildly surprised. She just couldn't believe it! She won the bet against the almost emotionless person of the 10th Division without even lifting a finger! But what was it that made her captain suddenly lose it? And why was he all frustrated about it too? She had been left pondering this as she started working on the last of her paperwork. The same paperwork she had been working on all day until Hinamori dragged her out.

Soon, the bright sunshine that came through the window slowly turned into a silver reflection of the moon. The night filled itself with the cries of the crickets and the bright lights of the fireflies. Naori took only a moment's glance outside to view such a sight before stacking the rest of her paperwork. She had been quite lucky! She managed to finish the paperwork fast enough that she can go home and sleep!

"Huh? You're still here?" A surprised voice said to her. Naori quickly turned around to realize it was her captain again, just more composed and collected.

"Uh yeah. I do have to finish the paperwork you gave me." Naori simply answered.

"Oh yeah…that." Hitsugaya murmured to himself as he picked up the completed paperwork that was neatly stacked on his desk.

"Uh Hitsugaya-taicho… Are you here to issue the new paperwork towards me?" Naori asked, yet knowing full well that the answer was yes.

"I can pick up on your work tomorrow. You can take the day off if you wish." Hitsugaya suddenly said, making her jump a little inside.

"Okay then…if you'd excuse me…" Naori uncomfortably bowed as a thanks and she hurried out of the division.

"You know I lost the bet, right?" Hitsugaya said, making her stop in her tracks. "You know you don't have to call me as your captain now."

"I know that." Naori answered, turning to Hitsugaya. "But that would make you not my captain, which is a lie." For once, she gave a genuine smile before walking away.

Hitsugaya stared at the girl as she was walking away out of his sight. He glanced back at his untouched photo frames that held the same photo he had lost to. That just said that she luckily didn't find out yet. "Good excuse…Naori…" He said to himself.

Who knows? Maybe they can work together.

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I swear that is the last time I will ever use incorrect English in writing. It's just too funny to pass up. Review!!


	23. Memories: Protection

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Err...can't get much chapters out this week or month. Too much school work! No time for writing! I haven't even written up the next chapter for this at all because I'm too busy studying my butt off. (Ever tried doing a book study while walking in the streets?) I'm trying to write up as much as I can and post it faster. Yet that might not happen...

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Memories: Protection

"Naori! What's the status on Matsumoto?" Hitsugaya barked out so loud that Naori felt her legs immediately jump up and flash stepped as if on queue.

"Still drunk, sir." Naori reported back a few seconds later.

Hitsugaya groaned and rubbed his temples with the forefingers of both hands. At such a time when he really needed his lieutenant…and she's still drunk after that huge _party_ last night. Such a party had been hectic! Let's just say Naori had managed to flash trudge herself out of bed and to his office to get rid of the alcohol poisoning in Hisagi and Izuru.

Hinamori gently smiled and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Don't worry Shiro-chan! I think I can handle it."

"Hitsugaya-taicho!" Hitsugaya barked at her straight up but slouched back down again. "You just don't get it, Hinamori. We're talking about Kusajishi, District 79, the district that's only one step away from death."

Hinamori pouted and crossed her arms. "But Hitsugaya-kun!! I'm just going there to handle a bunch of mobs. I'm going to be fine."

"That's the problem." Hitsugaya grumbled under his breath. "You still need somebody to ensure your protection. A bodyguard. A protector."

"But mobs are only a bunch of ordinary people." Hinamori argued back. "I can easily finish them off and I'll come back without a scratch!"

"Doesn't matter! You still need someone accompanying you!" Hitsugaya barked back at her.

Hinamori stood hovering her best friend with her fiery eyes burning themselves into Hitsugaya's eyes. Too bad his eyes sent back an icy glare and negated both effects into nothing.

"Um…excuse me?" Naori sheepishly asked, raising her hand slightly towards them.

"What?" Both Hinamori and Hitsugaya asked her, turning their heads towards her.

"I believe I may be able to help Hinamori-fukutaicho in her mission." Naori offered up at the both of them.

Both Hinamori and Hitsugaya stared at her in complete silence before turning back to each other and doubling over. Naori stood there, feeling her dignity drop more and more as she witnessed her superiors laughing at her. Hinamori quickly got herself back up to standing position and placed her hand on Naori's shoulders.

"Oh no! You really shouldn't go Naori-chan!" Hinamori said, stifling another wave of laughter.

"If you did, we'll have to worry if you can even walk through the district without getting mauled over." Hitsugaya also added in.

Naori frowned and walked right up to her captain's desk, firmly placing her hands onto the very surface of his documents. "And what makes it so difficult for me? This is more of a mundane thing than life threatening." Naori lowly said.

"Don't overestimate your abilities, Naori. As I recall from your records, you never had a first hand account in battle." Hitsugaya noted, making Naori flush a little. "Do you think you are strong enough to go through Kusajishi?"

"Well I don't know…but I know I can fight against mere people." Naori argued back, slamming her hands again on his desk.

"For someone who hasn't even fought before or even used their zanpakuto, I find that very hard to believe." Hitsugaya remarked, witnessing how Naori's face went from emotionless to being plain annoyed.

Noticing a bad aura seething right through Naori, Hinamori took the best action and quickly clamped her hand right over Naori's mouth. All could be heard were couples angry muffles and a slight smirk from Hitsugaya. Hinamori smiled and she slowly released her hand while saying, "Naori-chan. Don't let Hitsugaya-kun get to you."

"But Hinamori-fukutaicho-" Naori tried to argue.

"You two shouldn't worry too much about me." Hinamori softly said, smiling at both Hitsugaya and Naori. "I'm a lieutenant after all so I definitely know how to handle situations like this. So please don't worry."

Hitsugaya gazed on at how serious Hinamori started to get. Her chocolate eyes narrowed into a stern gaze and her hands clamped around her sword, as if ready for action. He sighed and replied, "Fine, but get back to Seireitei soon. If I don't see you tomorrow, I'm sending someone out."

* * *

"Hitsugaya-taicho. It's only been five hours." Naori plainly said and she set even more of Matsumoto's paperwork on his desk. Judging by the size of the paperwork, it looks like Matsumoto is going to be out today and tomorrow and probably the following week.

"I don't know Naori…I think I should send someone out just to check on her." Hitsugaya loudly pondered and sipped on his tea; spitting it right out once he tasted the slight hints of sugar.

Annoyed, Naori got the cloth napkins and wiped up the wet mess Hitsugaya just made on the floor. "Hinamori-fukutaicho is fine. She said so anyways." Naori said as she wiped it all up.

"You're worrying about the same thing, aren't you?" He suddenly said, making Naori gaze up at her captain while she was cleaning. He sat in his chair, his arms folded across his chest, and his eyes glaring at her as usual. "You are also worried if Hinamori is going to make it back safe or not."

Naori slightly chuckled under her breath and she stood back up. "You're right." She said and stared down at her feet, trying to ignore Hitsugaya's gaze. "When is Hinamori-fukutaicho coming back? I've heard the kind of a place Kusajishi is. It's not something an officer can handle alone."

"I know that." Hitsugaya sighed and glanced out a window. "But I've already promised Hinamori that it'll be until tomorrow that I can send people out."

"Yeah." Naori sighed and turned to the doorway to exit. She really would like to go to Kusajishi and find out what was happening to Hinamori. If there were breakouts of mobs, then there should be multiple officers sent out to calm the crowd. One was just not enough. If only her captain would just break his promise, but he's so attached to Hinamori that he'll never break her heart for going against their promise.

"That's why you are going to _escape_ from my division and visit Hinamori as she's working in Kusajishi." Hitsugaya said as if it's no big deal. "If something happens…you remember the kido I taught you. And whatever you do, I don't want to see Hinamori hurt." He crossly warned.

Naori felt her heart flew up a few meters and she quickly bowed down. "Thank you captain. Hinamori will not get hurt I promise." She said, straightening back up to smile before vanishing.

Naori had a somewhat smile on as she flash stepped over hundreds of meters. She just couldn't believe someone like her own stiff captain would just break the rules for a bit. Boy Hinamori is definitely not going to be happy if she knows Naori was sent to watch over her! But that was a good thing though. It really shows his soft side for once! Naori never really knew since he had always been a cold figure towards her, but she occasionally caught glimpses of what he's really like when he's with Hinamori.

Naori descended down from the sky and landed onto the soft grounds of Kusajishi. She took only a few glances around, noticing how everything had been left barren, everything was silent, and only a couple of bodies were lying around here and there. As Naori strolled around the place, she took notice of how empty the houses were and that there were a couple of burly men sitting on the porches or ground. They stared at her as she came, suspiciously glaring at her without any other signs of movement.

Naori nervously glanced at her right and her left, switching views at the same time as well. Was Hinamori all right? Did she handle Kusajishi like she was supposed to? Did she already get lynched? Naori didn't know at all. She caught on to a command for order and a loud blast coming from the far end of the district before breathing a sigh of relief. She totally found Hinamori. Just follow the kido smoke trails.

She quickly flash stepped over to that far end, quickly hiding behind a noticeable huge rock so Hinamori wouldn't catch onto the obvious stalking. But unfortunately, Hinamori still felt a strange aura climbing up her back, for Naori forgot to mask her spiritual presence, and she also spotted yellow hair beads sticking out behind those large rocks.

"Naori-chan!" Hinamori loudly called towards the rock. "I know you're there! Come out already!"

Naori hesitated for a bit, knowing full well that her cover was completely blown to bits. She hoped Hinamori would not get mad at her for this. She never saw a day that Hinamori was mad and she wished that day would never come. Steadily, Naori came out of the rock with her hands up.

Hinamori smiled, walked up to the girl, and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Goodness Naori. You still need some work on masking your presence. You are practically going to be hollow magnet if you don't master it correctly."

"Uh…my apologies…fukutaicho…" Naori embarrassingly mumbled.

"So Naori-chan!" Hinamori smiled and enthusiastically placed her hands on her waist. "Who sent you here? Hitsugaya-kun or Rangiku-san?"

"Hitsugaya-taicho…" Naori immediately answered. Damn! It's so hard to lie to someone like Hinamori.

"Thought so." Hinamori replied with a sigh. "I would have expected as much. At least he didn't send over half of his division like last time." '_And that was because I wasted most of my time at the tea shop.'_ She added in her head.

Naori felt a slight chuckle rise to her mouth. Wow! She did not expect her captain to take such measures that involved Hinamori. Imagine what would happen if Hinamori actually got hurt. Minor bleeding or something like that. "My…Hitsugaya-taicho seems to be quite the over protective type." Naori remarked.

Hinamori sighed once again. "Yeah. Hitsugaya-kun is something like that. He's always been like this from our childhood. Unfortunately, you never really knew us back then so you wouldn't understand."

Naori simply smirked, a mischievous one too. "You're right, I don't. But I understand that he can take it to the extreme level and that's just funny right there!"

"Naori-chan! Hitsugaya-kun is going to double your paperwork again if he ever finds out." Hinamori scolded, wagging a finger at Naori.

"Oh! Sorry Hinamori-fukutaicho…" Naori sheepishly mumbled an apology.

Hinamori gleamed of a huge smile that was pasted right on her face. "Ok then, Naori-chan, hurry back to Seireitei and comfort your captain or something. I think he's having a harder time than I am."

"Okay Hinamori-fukutaicho." Naori said towards Hinamori's command and turned to leave the premises.

But as she was turning to leave, at the corner of her eye, she caught onto a couple of the guys muttering to each other in secrecy. They had their faces lowered in a dark angle and their lips were quietly moving as they spoke. They huddled up close and continued to stare only at Hinamori and Naori. And those guys were part of the mob that Hinamori was supposed to handle too! Something did not feel right at all…

Naori glanced back at Hinamori and still saw that she was completely oblivious to the entire thing happening. She should definitely warn her! But unfortunately, there was no time as the guys were already pulling out something long, sharp, and stiff from behind. Trouble was near and she had to act!

"Hinamori-fukutaicho! Look out!" Naori yelled and pushed Hinamori out of the way just as the object, revealing to be a sword, was struck down at her spot. Naori panicked and she quickly drew out her own zanpakuto, raising it up in defense.

Hinamori was thrown back against the wall and she quickly bounced back, coughing up a little from the huge impact. That Naori should not shove so hard! She winced as she stood back up, drawing her own zanpakuto as well. She glanced up at Naori's direction and saw how much the young one was struggling so much. Naori looked like she could barely hold her own against the mob at all now. She was up in defense this whole time and it looked like there was no good time to unleash her power. Hinamori couldn't go into shikai or release kido either without hurting Naori as well. What to do!?

Hinamori suddenly saw a large and heavy weapon right behind Naori and she had no time to think. That girl was just too inexperienced to quickly react to the situation! The next thing Hinamori found herself doing was running up behind Naori and pushing that girl away as far as possible.

Naori gasped in fear, watching the lieutenant push her away. Hinamori had a look of fear across her face and her hand reached out towards Naori, pleading her to just run away. Naori's eyes widened even further as she saw the large object, a bigger sword, slash right down Hinamori's back.

"Hinamori!!!!!!" Naori screamed, watching helplessly as the limp body fell to the ground.

The man who struck her smirked with confidence as he stepped over her body and started to make his way towards Naori, sword laid out menacingly across his shoulder. Naori slowly stepped back as the man stepped closer. Fear completely overwhelmed her since her hands were shaking constantly against the hilt of her sword. The man smiled in glee as he raised his sword to slash down on Naori.

She could only think of those two words in her head. But she hadn't used them in such a long time, she wondered if they've faded from use. "Strike." Naori said, trembling as she held up her zanpakuto. "Strike, Denbakuto!"

A large bolt of electricity shot up from her zanpakuto and created a miniature explosion. Not huge enough to cover the entire street, but enough to completely fry the guy only two feet away from her. The man stood still for a second, wheezed a bit, and then collapsed onto the ground. Fear coming towards them, the mob stepped back a little, allowing Naori enough time to flash step all the way to Hinamori's. Though noticing the girl's strength, they suddenly came back for Naori and Hinamori.

"Don't worry Hinamori-fukutaicho! I'll quickly heal those wounds. You'll see." Naori said, holding Hinamori close to her, trying to see if Hinamori's vital regions were hurt. Luckily, it was only a flesh wound and the girl was knocked unconscious. Suddenly, from the corner of her eye, she saw men coming for her again.

_If something happens…you remember the kido I taught you._

Suddenly at her command, a large mirror-like shield completely encased the both of them. And just in time too. Unfortunately, it was a bit weak so the shield wasn't really that big and the mob was still quite close. Naori still tried her best to heal Hinamori and keep the shield up at the same time. But her spiritual pressure was quickly going out now. She didn't have much like her captain. Like she had the special capability to have that!

Naori suddenly gasped as she felt her shield falter a little and closed in a bit closer to her. The yells and cries of the mob outside scared her to bits. Naori pressed her healing hand harder onto Hinamori, trying to speed up the process as much as she can. All in the while, she shut her eyes tight, begging for them to just go away and leave Hinamori and her alone. Her lips trembled a little and tears rolled from her eyes as she repeated her fearful words. "Just go away…go away…go away…leave me alone…"

"Get out of my sight."

She heard a cry of pain from the men and something getting slashed right outside of her shield. She heard the growls of other men and their hands tensing up on their weapons, getting ready to attack whoever just came. She slowly opened up one eye, blinking twice to see the clear scene happening before her. She only spotted the green underside of the waving piece of cloth and she instantly knew just who it was.

"Hitsugaya-taicho…" Naori dazedly gasped.

Hitsugaya slightly glanced back at her, not even turning towards her, and he only saw the bleeding Hinamori lying on the ground with Naori. Hinamori's face was still pale, her eyes were still closed, and a huge bleeding gash still ran up diagonally on her back. His pursed lips turned into a scowl and he averted away from them, slowly walking out towards another mob of Kusajishi men in front of him. He slowly drew out his long zanpakuto out from his back and flicked it towards the ground, scattering dirt everywhere. He took a menacing step forward, and another, and another, bad enough that it prompted the men to start to back away.

"Who did this to her?" He lowly growled at the mob. No one responded. "Who did this?" He repeated again. Again, no one could speak a word. They were all too busy on the defense, getting ready for if he would ever strike at them. Hitsugaya glared at them and raised his sword in front of him, pointing the tip right at them men before him.

"You all are so dead. Whoever makes Hinamori bleed will die by my hand." He said, jutting his sword out so far that the point tip almost reached a man's neck. "And whoever makes my subordinates cry will have to answer to me."

Naori shuddered as a huge wave of her captain's spiritual pressure came flying right at her. It was so big and so strong that she could just faint at the moment from over exposure. Though she still kept healing the wound of Hinamori's and the powerful shield up, even though the radius was shrinking more by the minute.

Outside, she witnessed her own captain handling the mob at ease. Every time someone tried to land a blow on him, he would dodge or counter and land a harder, faster, and more painful blow back at them. Some of the men were already flying out away from him and creating huge holes into the nearby straw houses. Hitsugaya didn't even bother to check if he actually killed the people he knocked away. He was simply just knocking down any person he sees with his sword in his hand. Even some were flying out with horrible gash wounds everywhere.

"Hitsugaya-taicho! Look out!" Naori shouted out of nowhere once she noticed a couple men a far throwing rocks at him.

Though he already realized this and simply flicked a highly destructive spell at them and the rocks. The other mob went out badly scarred and some were already running for their lives. The other men, that Hitsugaya previously knocked out, quickly woke up and scrambled the heck out of there. They were already proven that provoking a captain was just a step into a grave. The men that looked like they were killed because they refused to move, they just simply stayed dead.

Soon, Hitsugaya felt no need to use his sword no more and quickly sheathed it, watching the last of the mob run away with their tails between their legs. He coldheartedly sneered at them, sending a long distance message to never ever bother him again. Afterwards, he turned around and gazed on at Hinamori where her wounds were almost completely healed. He slid his gaze up to Naori who was sighing in relief now that she knew that she was safe. He walked up to her, gesturing for her to pull her barrier down, which she did and afterwards…

"Shō" Hitsugaya nonchalantly chanted, pointing his finger right at Naori.

Naori opened her mouth to question but what only came out was a loud gasp. She felt her body heave up and slam back a couple of feet. Her back slammed into a tree and she felt her stomach rise a bit before slumping down at the base of the tree. Due to physics, Hinamori simply stayed in place of where she was. Her condition had been stable, thanks to Naori, and she was now only heaving deep breaths of air. Hitsugaya quickly got down before Hinamori and gently helped her sit up, letting her clear her mind as she dazedly woke up.

"Shiro-chan…" She tiredly mumbled once she saw her best friends face appear before her sight.

Hitsugaya steadied her, making sure she can properly sit up by herself. Afterwards, he stood back up and walked over to the spot in front of the tree that Naori was slumped upon. He grasped onto the neckline of her black uniform and pulled her up to his face. "Just how did you screw this up?" He crossly asked, glaring at Naori's still unopened eyes. He sighed and dropped the unconscious girl unto the floor after noticing she wasn't responding.

"Shiro-chan…wait…" Hinamori weakly said, staggering over to her friend.

"Hinamori! You're not in the condition to be walking." Hitsugaya scolded her. "And it's Hitsugaya-taicho."

Hinamori didn't listen as she continued to limp towards the two. She instantly collapsed right by Naori's body and helped it sit up against the tree, all in the while, scolding Hitsugaya just by gazing up at him. "Hitsugaya-kun. Don't be blaming Naori for all this."

"You almost got hurt for protecting that untrained girl." Hitsugaya protested.

"It was your fault for sending her over to look after me. You know she's too inexperienced to be doing this stuff." Hinamori argued back.

Hitsugaya opened his mouth to argue back but he knew that he had lost this battle. So he simply did the smart thing and shut himself up while Hinamori took her attention back to his unconscious subordinate. She was just gazing at the sleeping face of Naori's while holding tight on her hand after noticing Naori tense up a bit.

"Anyways…" Hinamori quietly said. "It doesn't matter. I'm still alive, aren't I? Naori-chan may have not done the best job at fighting, but she can heal up wounds really quickly. If it weren't for her, I would be in a more critical condition by the time Shiro-chan arrived."

Hitsugaya huffed at the comment.

"Good job Naori-chan." Hinamori said to her in a soft voice, gently patting her on the head.

At the moment, Naori seemed to curve her lips to a smile…

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"No!! I hate it!! Don't want it!! Need milk!" Naori suddenly screamed herself awake, but she found herself looking at an oddly peculiar short captain cocking his eyebrow at her.

"I don't know what you're dreaming and I don't want to find out." He monotonously said and walked back to his desk that was filled with the usual stacks of papers.

"Umm Hitsugaya-taicho…how long was I out?" Naori asked, sitting up on the couch until a painful shock shot up her back. She must have been lying down for a long time.

"Three days." He answered, shuffling through his papers.

"What happened?" Naori groaned and lied back down on the couch.

"Hinamori and I carried you back into the office. Hinamori went back to report to her captain. I forced Matsumoto to finish up the paperwork with me. And you stayed in here ever since. Also, there had been a problem with one of the gates." Hitsugaya said, quickly going through his papers until he had them stacked neatly in one end.

"Are you in a hurry?" Naori asked, noticing the quickening pace of his work and the fact he kept glancing back at the clock a couple of times.

"Yes, captain's meeting in a couple of minutes." He said, glancing at the clock again. "Though it gives me more than enough time to issue your punishment."

"Punishment?" Naori exclaimed, irritated for only a bit. Just what did she do wrong that she needed to be punished for it?

"Your punishment for getting Hinamori hurt severely…" Hitsugaya said, strictly eyeing at Naori. "…is complete house arrest."

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Yep, Naori's in house arrest. What are you going to do? Even though it is unreasonable, I need to lock her up for the next chapter...which I have not gotten around writing with.

_Review!!!!!!_


	24. Memories: Soul Society

_Many apologies for not updating, which is what I would be doing. It's just that school and…ugh!!! I am getting so overwhelmed here! I barely have enough time to even open up the document. It's always do my homework and then, study like mad crazy! Anyways, enjoy the chapter._

_Note: Written from Naori's perspective so…some stuff is going to be left out. I at least incorporated some canon stuff._

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**Memories: Soul Society**

It was the first day. Bored. That was what she currently was at home.

Naori sat all alone in her barracks as she numbly fingered around with a blade of grass. Her other hand played around with her dark hair while she blankly stared out the open window. It was still in the middle of the day yet she never changed into her shinigami uniform. It would have been useless since she was not going to even go out at all. Her zanpakuto was already stored away so that she couldn't use it.

Naori groaned in discomfort as she felt another wave of spiritual pressure coming her way. Seriously! If those ryoka want to have a fight, couldn't they do it a good half a mile away from her!

She really wished that instead of sitting bored at home, she would be out fighting and following orders like everyone else in Soul Society. The reason she couldn't was because of that stupid captain of hers! Yet he was safely far away from her since she heard that he was at an emergency captain's meeting. Just what was it for again? Oh yeah, something about intruders in Soul Society.

"I wonder though…" Naori softly said to herself. "What do a couple of people and a cat want in a place like this?"

Just as she thought of just that. She saw a bolt of light fly right by her eyes and crash far away from her sight.

* * *

It was the second day and Naori sat by her window, watching the ongoing fights happening around. The ryoka who landed around her area seemed very interesting. Many officers would lunge at him yet he would push them off as if they were nothing. The way he was dressed was also very interesting. He had really dark skin and very messy and wavy hair. He wore these tight hakama-like clothing with some weird looking fabric on top of it. On his neck was a really shiny gold necklace. Yet what interested Naori the most was what his arm that seemed to be like a weapon itself.

"What's a stranger like you doing in a place like this?" Naori loudly called as the ryoka passed by her home.

He stopped and glanced up at her. He didn't utter a single word as their eyes connected.

"You don't talk that much. Huh?" Naori remarked.

"Do you wish to fight?" He asked all of a sudden, snapping Naori's attention back at him.

"Excuse me? Do I want to fight you, a ryoka?" Naori repeated back with a slight smirk and tapped the barrier on her window. "Truthfully, I would like to do my job and turn you in to the authorities. But I'm unfortunately stuck in here so I can do nothing."

"Oh...so this is not worth discussing. I'll let you be." He said and prepared to leave.

"Is this about Rukia Kuchiki's execution?" Naori silently watched as the man stood still after she uttered those words.

"Why would you be so curious of my reason being here?" He responded back to her call.

"Oh! So this is about Rukia Kuchiki's execution. Now let me try and remember why she was sentenced to that." Naori said, holding a questioning pose and ignoring his questions. "She was sentenced for giving her shinigami powers to a mere human. Can I suspect that to be you?"

"It is not me." He immediately answered.

"So it is not you. Whatever, not like it matters." Naori quickly dismissed from her mind. "So are you going to go and try save Rukia Kuchiki? What if I tell you that it's pointless? You'll just wound up dead."

"That is your opinion." He answered back again.

Naori sighed, getting slightly pissed that he was just answering in five words or less. "If you're trying to save Rukia, then why are you so far away from her execution place? She's not getting executed here, you know?"

"I'm already aware of that." He replied back.

Naori mischievously grinned as she glanced out at the large hill far away from her. Maybe she should let this ryoka in on where Rukia was getting executed. It was good payback to him for slamming her into house arrest. More work for him! "Hey ryoka! You'll probably want to head over that hill over there if you ever want to find her!" Naori called down to him.

He only stared at her as if questioning her on her intentions.

"She's getting executed over there if you want to know. You'll find her if you can get there alive of course." Naori added on as well.

"And why would you reveal such crucial information to me?" He questioned, looking at her with a suspicious intent.

"Who knows? Maybe I'm bored… Maybe I'm already sick of this place… Maybe I want to rebel like some people I know…" Naori suddenly smirked at him. "Or maybe…I want to stall you here long enough for reinforcements arrive."

"Reinforcements?" He asked and they came.

"The ryoka! He's here! Quick! Get him!" A loud voice cried out and a huge number of soldiers started running right at the man. Their swords were already driven and they were ambushing him at all sides.

"Well then, Stranger. Have fun dealing with the _entire_ 10th division!" Naori finally called out and left her window. Well that was a good way to ease her boredom.

* * *

At that night, she received a message that officers were allowed to use their zanpakuto's since the ryoka were proved to be too dangerous and that they should be taken as a threat. Too bad Naori still couldn't use hers since she was still stuck in house arrest. She also received note that the Sixth Division lieutenant had already been defeated.

"So that stranger managed to plow through the entire division. I'm such an idiot! To think I underestimated him." Naori mumbled to herself. "Maybe I should have broken the rules and taken him out myself."

There she slept with that thought clear in her mind. The next morning, she woke up with a loud piercing scream that sounded throughout the entire Seireitei. Naori stood up in shock when she heard the scream and she quickly recognized it to be Hinamori's. She quickly hurried to her window and suddenly caught on to a billowing dark cloud coming from the center.

"Did that girl release her shikai already?" Naori asked herself, worried. "Is she going to be okay from those ryoka?"

Only a couple hours after, she received another note regarding the incident from earlier. Apparently, Hinamori's captain was found dead this morning. When Hinamori found out, she freaked out and attacked a captain and fought with the lieutenant of that captain. She released her shikai on him and it took Hitsugaya to stop her.

Naori's eyes widened in surprise as she read the last words of the message. To think Hinamori could do that against a captain! It was merely too shocking to understand. She quickly dropped the note and raced towards her window again. The area was now really quiet.

At hours later, the door to her room opened and a blond haired woman popped into the room. "Naori-chan? You still awake?"

"Matsumoto-fukutaicho? Is everything alright?" Naori hurriedly asked, speeding towards the lieutenant.

"Hey! Hey! Everything's fine." Matsumoto quickly replied, trying to put the girl at ease.

Oh…that's a relief." Naori sighed and slumped to the floor. "Just what happened out there exactly?"

"Well…I can't really reveal the details right now…but…" Matsumoto stalled around while nervously rubbing the back of her head.

"But what?" Naori demanded.

"Nothing, forget about it." Matsumoto quickly replied back, making Naori groan for keeping her in the dark. Matsumoto awkwardly gazed around the barracks until glancing back down at Naori again. "So…how's it like home alone?"

"Boring." Naori groaned and plopped back down on the floor.

"Are you still mad?" Matsumoto questioned, cocking her head a little.

Naori perked her eyebrows out as if saying: 'Really! You just noticed!'

"Hmm…" Matsumoto hummed to herself, clearly receiving the message. "I guess you still don't know the details. What if I tell you the real reason you're stuck in here?"

Naori quickly perked up as if she was on full attention after hearing that.

"Well when the three of you came back, Taicho had to report the incident to the Head Captain. He told Taicho to issue a punishment if needed due to the failure of the mission. I was listening in, of course, and I asked him if he was actually going to issue one. Guess what he said?" Matsumoto excitedly asked.

Naori didn't reply but she knew the answer was a yes.

"He said that he wasn't since he now realized how pathetically untrained you were in real battle. He was actually going to put you off duty for a while so you can go through training sessions." Matsumoto happily answered her own question.

An irritated wave came over Naori completely. Untrained and pathetic huh? Well sorry she came from the weakest division ever!

"Yet a message came that someone managed to make it through the gate and defeated the gatekeeper there. After Taicho heard that, he quickly changed his mind and put you under house arrest. So-"

Yet right at that moment, another surge of powerful spiritual pressure swept right through them and both of them knew exactly whom it belonged to. It was that powerful, cold, and freezing spiritual pressure that was blowing through the air.

"Oh no! More trouble now!" Matsumoto mumbled and quickly ran out the door.

"Hold on! Matsumoto-fukutaicho!" Naori yelled and ran after her. But when she reached the door, she was repelled back into the room and Matsumoto had already vanished from sight.

* * *

The day after, Naori heard that Hitsugaya fought with Gin and he also had to fight against Hinamori. It must have been tough for him. Luckily, Matsumoto came in at the moment and managed to stop the fight from going any further. Well it was a good reason for disappearing on her that night.

Naori was suddenly brought over to her window to see the happening battles at Sokyoku Hill. She really couldn't believe the ryoka managed to make it all the way over there. They were really something…

She stayed there for only a few hours as she witnessed everything that happened. She saw how a large phoenix like being was dissolved completely. She observed how the swirling cherry blossoms were surrounding the air. How large bankai's were popping up like daisies.

She only wondered how long these battles were going to continue…

She then saw three beams of light appear from a rip in the sky and three people floating up through those beams. She couldn't recognize the three people yet she could distinguish the rip in the sky. It could only mean bad news.

* * *

"Hey! Are you still here?" Somebody's loud voice rang throughout the barracks.

Naori mumbled something inaudible as she continued sleeping.

"Jeez. I personally come to here for you and you're sleeping on me." Somebody's exasperated tone sounded above her now.

Naori stirred a bit and only continued sleeping through the noise. She slightly heard a recognizable voice sigh and walk away from her. She slightly smiled for her peace and quiet and nuzzled deeper into her sleep. Though seconds later, she suddenly sprung up like a released mousetrap.

"Hitsugaya-taicho! Is that you!?" Naori loudly exclaimed in surprise.

"You're so loud Naori. Quiet down." Hitsugaya grumbled.

"Captain! What happened out there? What was going on? How is everyone?" Naori suddenly sprang onto him with questions until she recognized bandages wrapped around his arm. "You're hurt…why?"

"It's nothing. Something minor." Hitsugaya mumbled and tried to hide away the bandages. "It's alright. Unohana-taicho already healed it for me."

"Oh…it's okay then…" Naori softly replied and withdrew her hands.

"Right." Hitsugaya suddenly coughed and he quickly led Naori out of her barracks. "You are to oversee the repairs of Seireitei. Those are my orders."

"What happened to Seireitei though?" Naori suddenly asked, earning a slight glare from her captain. Just as cold as ever. Then again, she was not in the position to be curious at the moment.

"Somebody, other than me, will explain to you later. You can start with repairs around the 10th Division. It seems that the ryoka that landed here made a complete mess. Fix it." Hitsugaya kept commanding. His eyes held only a determination and it completely hid something else.

At an instance, Naori suddenly released his grip on her arm. She pulled back as he glanced back at her, questioning why she would suddenly act this way. "Hitsugaya-taicho…" She asked him.

"What is it now?" He groaned at her.

"Hey. This has been bothering me the past few days and you're the one who caused this." Naori seriously asked. "What was the point of putting me through house arrest?"

Yeah, she needed to be irresponsibly curious in order to clear that point up. It was really something that was bothering her till no ends.

There stood only still silence between them. Hitsugaya stared at her with no answer coming out from his mouth. Naori just stubbornly stood at her end, wanting to hear the answer he was going to give. A couple moments passed away as he turned away from her and walked away.

Naori sighed in disbelief. Maybe that was a bit too personal for someone like him to answer.

"You are weak."

"What?" Naori gasped and glanced back up at him, only to find her captain gazing back at her again.

"It's natural instinct to protect the weak. Think about it." He finally said and glanced at the sky, noticing something fly by. "That reminds me. See Matsumoto tomorrow. That's an order."

And he just flash stepped away from her. Leaving Naori to watch the specks of dust that he left behind. Naori sighed and turned her back away from him. Again with the weak thing!

Hitsugaya steadily flew through the city of Seireitei to the outermost gates. It seemed that Seireitei's power was so screwed up that they had a little trouble keeping control over Rokungai. Yet now, he was only thinking of that entire conversation he just had with her. Through what he had just said to Naori, he hoped that she wouldn't take it in the wrong direction. She's been developing a bad a habit of doing that recently.

* * *

_Take that last paragraph and try to adjust it into the story. Now, you should be getting a good grasp on the characters and the storyline as of so far. So, next update will be in a long time from now. Sad… I will try and overcome this! Review!_

Memories: Soul Society


	25. Memories: Diamond and Dust

_I am done with another chapter. This little flashback arc is about to be all wrapped up in the next chapter or two. It's time to move on with the real plot and solve all this madness. Also my apologies for not posting at all for these couple of months. I was being lazy, studying, being lazy, school, being lazy, hanging out, being lazy, homework, being lazy, being caught up in other things, being lazy, and of course, being lazy._

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**Memories: Diamond and Dust**

She placed another foot into the icy air as she maneuvered her way throughout the human world. Her zanpakuto was already clearly drawn as she twirled with it around within her hand. Now it was just a matter of using it. Her eyes widened once she spotted her target and she swooped down, clearly beheading the hollow wandering about there.

"Well…I think that's the last one spotted." Naori cheerfully reassured herself and she massaged the aching pain in her back. It sure sucked a lot for her to be waken up so early in the morning just to get rid of a bunch of little hollows.

"Fifth Seat Hibana-san! We've just disposed the last of those hollows. What do you suggest we do next?" One of the lower seats asked her.

"I don't know. I'm not the one giving out orders here." Naori replied and she leisurely sat down on a nearby bench.

"But sir, the seats higher than you were immediately called to the captain and lieutenant's side." He responded.

"Wow…that's weird. Then this top-secret thing that Hitsugaya-taicho is guarding must be super special. I mean he already got most of our division to go and assist him." Naori pondered for a moment before realizing her sudden duties. "Uh yeah! There's no reason to stay here any longer. Everyone go back to Soul Society."

"Yes sir." The lower seat bowed and quickly vanished.

"Ah!!" Naori loudly yawned as she tiredly stretched in her bench. It was so tiring for her to even put up a barrier in the world of the living. This was her morning for her. One moment she was happily sleeping in due to the notice that the captain left her and the next…she was blared right out of her sleep from loud yelling outside of her door. Stupid hollow warnings.

Unfortunately, as she was in the midst of her relaxation, the barrier slightly wavered and a flash of electricity zapped right out. Two very noticeable sounds of thuds rang through her ears and she quickly flipped around. She noticed two figures, that were standing around her, suddenly fell down like they fainted on the spot.

"Snap…I'm so dead…" Naori muttered and fished out her old Kikanshinki device. So this was another tedious thing to add to her agenda. Wipe out those knocked out people's memories, get the heck out of there before they receive any more of her spiritual pressure, go home and practice putting up barriers. Just how could this happen? Her lessons with Matsumoto really need to be reviewed again.

She quickly hurried up to one of the victims, which was some middle-aged man with disheveled hair. He was lying on his side with a notebook tightly gripped in his hand. She only partially lifted him up from the ground when he suddenly started screaming.

"Oh Miyuba-chan!!! I'm finally back you see!! I'm back where I promised I'd meet you! Now! Now we can be together for-"

_Smack! _

Poor guy couldn't finish his sentence before the panicking Naori knocked him out with a fist to the head. She sighed and shook herself out of the panicked state before pressing the button on the device.

"Excuse me miss?" A tiny voice asked and prodded her arm. A small tiny girl, the other victim, looked at her in pure curiosity. "Why did you hit him?"

"Huh?" Naori could only say that one syllable before she quickly pressed the button again right in front of the girl's face and the tiny one fell back into a slump. Her tiny little legs fell back against the hard concrete in a thud and her pink dress gracefully flowed along with her fall. Naori slightly bowed down toward her as an apology. A sincere apology to… what's her name on that nametag? Haruka Ayumishi, for not catching her when she fell.

She immediately stood up and flash stepped as far away as she could from those two. She really should be heading home by now. It was getting pretty late and the skies were turning dark. Suddenly, her cell rang from her side and she listened in on the message left to her. A few minutes later, she quickly disappeared and prepared to head right back home for a meeting with the entire 10th Division.

Naori frowned in complete discontent as she flash stepped some more. She wished she could have convinced Matsumoto to stay a bit longer in training her. If she did, then she can just pop a gate from her zanpakuto at any location instead of having to find a strong field of spiritual pressure for her to use.

But just as she was passing by a large hill, a strong wave of spiritual pressure suddenly pushed her right off her path. "What the heck was that?" Naori gasped as she struggled to regain herself from staggering any further.

Yet in that very same hill that she witnessed, an arrest with tons of shinigami and one sole rebel was taking place. Numerous shinigami were surrounding the area while three were fighting at the very top.

"You're under arrest." Izuru calmly said as he stood before the fallen shinigami.

"Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyourinmaru!!" Hitsugaya yelled as he readied his sword for the attack. In a mere instance, a long dragon of ice and water flew out and wavered through the crowds. Its brilliant wings of blue and white shone brightly with the slim body of a current of turbulent water. It was just like a violent river floating in the air. It weaved through the crowds and successfully disabled them from doing anything else. It reared its head back and roared in victory while disappearing into the murky dark skies.

Hitsugaya could only stare out at all the shinigami he just took down in one blow. A blinding pain shot up from his stomach and he suddenly dropped to his knees, holding in on the pain. He coughed out some of the blood bubbling in his throat and he staggered up to his feet. His sash bandaged hand held tight to his zanpakuto as his free hand gripped onto the wound in his stomach.

Naori stood at the edge of the hill, looking into her reflection that was shining back on her at one of the numerous purple rods. She recognized this spell.

He suddenly jerked up once he felt that slight hint of spiritual pressure wavering at him. He thought he already disposed of all those shinigami that was sent after him. Should he quickly get rid of this stray one too? Yes…definitely…

"Hitsugaya-taicho…" Naori dazedly said, only able to move on inch towards him.

He couldn't say anything. Hitsugaya didn't reply back as he moved slightly away from her. Of all the people to bump into, it had to be her.

"Hitsugaya-taicho-Ah!" Naori gasped and jumped back a little the minute she witnessed her captain pulling his zanpakuto out. At that moment, she knew that he was definitely not playing any games. In a reflex, her hand flew back and reached for her zanpakuto handle as well, but she quickly pulled it back.

"What's going on captain?" Naori asked and she lightly stepped forward and a bit closer. "What happen to you? Your captain's cloak…your clothes…these people…"

Just as she was stepping closer, he was backing away as well. Just how was he going to deal with her? How? Just when he was thinking that, the pain shot up from his stomach again and he staggered a bit in his steps.

"Captain! You're hurt!" Naori said in surprise as she was stepping even more closely now. "Please, put your sword down and let me heal up those wounds."

In a panic, Hitsugaya quickly backed up as far as he could from her. He was heading back so far that he was already on the elevated floor of the shrine there with his back pressed against the wooden door. Yet in the process, he accidentally released a slight trace of his spiritual pressure. But it was clearly enough to push Naori further than necessary.

Naori gasped as she tried to steady herself from falling over completely. That guy! Was it really necessary to force her back almost five meters away? Was he really trying to knock her right off that hill?

"Hitsugaya-taicho! What's wrong with you?" Naori yelled at him in frustration, unable to hold those worried emotions back. "If you keep this up, then everyone's going to be so worried over you. How is Matsumoto-fukutaicho going to feel about this? Your division? Everyone in Gotei 13? Hinamori-fukutaicho? What's going to happen when she wakes up and you're gone?"

"Naori Hibana!" Hitsugaya barked out at her, enough to clearly shut her up. "Stay out of this."

"You… You're running away from Soul Society aren't you?" Naori confirmed in a shaky voice. "Why?"

As the winds rustled through the both of them, he could only do nothing but stare dumbfounded at his subordinate. She was glaring at him with her eyes almost brimming to tears and her hands steadily placed right were her sword handle was if she needed to attack or defend. Her dark bangs and beads were swaying off to the side just like his spiky white hair. Just as Hitsugaya only slightly moved, her hand already gripped onto her sword out of reflex.

"Hitsugaya-taicho…" Naori softly said. "Anyone would least suspect you of doing this. How could you be abandoning Soul Society like this? It makes no sense!"

Crap! Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes at her and he quickly began his stance for a flash step towards her. He could already sense the breakdown happening before him. He didn't want to see another breakdown exactly like Hinamori's last one. It was horrible enough for him to even witness a girl crying in despair in front of him.

"Please…just why?" Naori cried out, loud enough for the trees to shudder in response. "Don't leave everyone in the dark here. Just tell us!"

Her golden eyes widened once he had disappeared. Vanished in a mere flash step. Like he just ignored everything she just said a second ago. Naori sighed and lifted her hand from her sword. She could only stare at the stone floor with her dark bangs covering her eyes. "I see…you're running away from me now…" She silently said to herself. "Fine…people like you…**ARE BETTER OFF-**"

_Thump!_

She slightly fell forward, feeling something small yet sturdy connecting with her stomach. Something unpleasant was already rising to her throat and she felt like she could lose her consciousness at that moment. She was already falling forward, but someone was already over at her and cradling her fall. Her eyes widened at the sight of a streak of silver white hair and a large tan cloak surrounding her completely. It was only after hearing a sword banging lightly against the stone grounds before her eyes closed completely and the darkness conquered her.

"Sorry…"

* * *

A sleeping figure lonely slept in her pristine white bed. Her dark blue hair was already undone with her golden beads and accessories properly removed. She slept in her white kimono with her bare arms exposed. The windows of the room were already open with winds blowing through the transparent curtains. In that time, she could only slightly stir and nudge her head around.

She heard a rustle next to her bedside and felt something light and fluffy land on her nose. Her golden eyes slowly and slightly opened and she rolled her head to the side, letting the soft petal fall off as well. It was a lavender petal falling from the bouquet of flowers on the bedside table.

"Hibana-san! You're finally awake!" A relieved voice said, one that she knew it belonged to Isane. "Somebody's here to see you. I'm going to leave so call me if you need me." Isane smiled and spoke to someone else before leaving.

"Naori. I see you're awake." Hitsugaya's faraway voice rang through her ears, prompting her to fully open her eyes.

"Hitsugaya-taicho! You're…" Naori asked, finding her captain to be standing far in front of her with his normal attire on and everything. His normal white captain's cloak and his sword strapped onto his back. There weren't even traces of blood or wounds. "Was I dreaming this whole time?" Naori muttered to herself and leaned back down into her propped up pillow.

"No." Hitsugaya simply answered as he stared out of the window, gazing on at the stony and icy remnants sitting out at a distance.

"Oh…" Naori softly answered with her mind trying to sort through the confusing mess. "Is everything okay? You're not going to leave?"

"No." He sighed and turned away from the window while heading his way back to the door. "If you don't mind, I'm going to leave. I have to go see a friend."

"Okay." Naori meekly answered and watch her captain disappear from the door. She sighed and turned her gaze towards her open window. The wind was blowing such a nice breeze on this somewhat cloudy day.

Hitsugaya was walking towards the gate when he spotted his lieutenant waiting for him by the gate. "Matsumoto." He acknowledged and she handed him the cloak and the broken sword. He gripped onto those two items and started his walk towards the outer edges of Seireitei. Matsumoto orderly followed behind him with a serious face placed on as well. He would not be in the mood for games. Maybe afterwards.

Naori dazedly stared out from her window and watched her captain and lieutenant leave the premises. She already abandoned sleeping in her bed and she was just perched up against her window. "Friend of Hitsugaya-taicho…you are lucky to be his friend." She softly said and a small smile crept up to her lips.

The lavender petal floated out as a gust of winds blew by and it floated in the direction of her captain. Naori's fingers were playing with that petal.

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Uh…yeah…so that's the chapter. I've incorporated the movie in this one! Maybe I'll put in one of the filler arcs as the next one.

_As always! Review!!_


	26. Memories: Zanpakuto

_Yes…this is on that recent filler series that was airing for some time ago. Thank goodness the anime is getting back on track with the original storyline. Anyways, I just wanted to include a little snippet in the storyline that shows how much stronger Naori has gotten over her training years. And you get to see how her zanpakuto is like._

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**Memories: Zanpakuto**

Naori was walking steadily through the usual hallway while bringing the usual paperwork over towards her division. It was the usual day with the sun shining in the clear skies. Matsumoto was issued some paperwork, but she was too busy getting pissed off at her own zanpakuto to bother getting it. So, Naori had to be sent out to gather those stacks back. She really didn't mind since this stack wasn't really that heavy and it was only a couple of sheets in total. Yet just as she was walking down the sunlit halls, she felt something hit her shoulder and arm. In an instance, all the papers she was carrying were now floating around and scattering amongst the ground.

"Oh…sorry Naori." The person quickly apologized and got down to help her pick up those papers.

"It's okay. Hitsugaya-taicho." Naori responded back and gathered up the papers in her hands. "But is something wrong? You seem a little spaced out."

"That…that's nothing. There's nothing to worry about." Hitsugaya reassured her and quickly left.

Naori stared weirdly back at him before continuing on her way. That was…just a bit weird. She would usually never catch her captain in such a dazed state that he'd be bumping randomly into people. Something must be very troubling to him and he is stuck on that problem.

"It didn't work…but Shiro-chan really loves these sweets." She heard Hinamori complain as she entered the office.

"I don't know. Taicho was acting weird when he was with his zanpukuto a moment ago." Matsumoto answered.

"Hinamori-fukutaicho? Matsumoto-fukutaicho? Do you know what's wrong with Hitsugaya-taicho? I accidentally bumped into him a second ago." Naori curiously asked.

"He was acting strange after talking with his zanpakuto. Maybe it's something about that. Come to think of it. That Haineko's still not answering my commands at all!" Matsumoto grimly said and shot a dirty look at her sword being stuck in the ground.

"Rangiku-san! Maybe you should not get so angry over your zanpakuto." Hinamori scolded and pried out the sword from the ground before handing it to Matsumoto. "Tobiume is always so nice and caring towards me. Even when I'm in trouble, she always comforted me. I can never get angry at her."

Matsumoto pouted as she slid her zanpakuto back into her sheath. She then shot a glance at the puzzled Naori. "Hey Naori-chan? Has your zanpakuto been acting up too?" She curiously asked.

"Huh? Well I don't really know. I haven't contacted Denbaku-to recently. I can do it now if you want." Naori replied as she reached for her zanpakuto.

"Oh Naori-chan! There's no need to put you in our troubles. Maybe it's just us, you know?" Hinamori cheerfully reassured.

Naori weirdly gazed at her before plopping the paperwork on the short coffee table. Ignoring Matsumoto's whining of more work and Isane's offering of sweets, Naori left the office and headed out towards the courtyard. She sat down behind a huge rock and leaned back with her legs folded up only slightly. She unsheathed her sword and gently placed it in front of her on its side. Afterwards, she propped her head on her crossed hands and concentrated only on her zanpakuto.

"Denbaku-to, can I talk to you for a bit?" Naori asked.

Suddenly crackles and sparks emitted from her zanpakuto and an explosion of bright yellow came right out from it. It generated a booming sound with a booming force that created huge gusting winds. Naori frowned as she felt the long stalks of grass tickle her legs and her dark hair strand slapping her face from the huge winds. She quickly shielded her face with her arms once she saw a huge dust wind coming her way. Once the explosion was clear and when the dust finally faded away, Naori quickly glanced around to locate her brightly discharged zanpakuto. Unfortunately, she couldn't spot the glowing yellow thing amongst the slightly hilly plain of her inner-world.

"Are you answering me Denbaku-to?" Naori loudly called out, letting her voice echo throughout the wavering grass of the plain and the dark cloudy skies.

How could Denbaku-to not be answering her? That zanpakuto always appears in its glowing self after the huge flashy and explosive entrance. Naori frowned at her zanpakuto's unresponsive behavior and quickly got up from her seat. She picked up the sword and held it right up in front of her while trying to force it out. Yet nothing happened at all.

"Is my zanpakuto acting weird too? Is this what's happening to everyone else?" Naori asked herself as she sheathed her zanpakuto.

She found herself back at her division courtyard while only standing meters away from her previous stop. She glanced into a nearby window to see Isane, Matsumoto, and Hinamori having a joyful time together. Was this not an urgent thing since the three lieutenants don't seem to be having a tough time? Should she not worry about it too? She could still remember how strange her captain was when he bumped into her in the halls.

Naori could only wonder about these strange things as she continued on with her regular duties.

* * *

Naori stood at a considerably high building as she scouted through the division area for any more disturbances. It had only been a few hours difference and she completely lost communication of her zanpakuto. Yet her situation was not as bad since all the captains and lieutenants lost control of their zanpakuto as a whole. Apparently, some other force decided to pop out of nowhere and lead a zanpakuto rebellion. Yet because of this rebellion, everyone was getting ready for any dangerous possibilities like an attack or a siege. Naori was sent to patrol around her division area and be prepared for any attacks. She didn't like the fact that she had to manage a part of the entire 10th Division because she had to work non-stop. It was already near sunset and her members only managed to rebuild and reinforce one of the damaged buildings.

Yet this zanpakuto problem must be pretty important because Hitsugaya disappeared the night before. She hadn't seen him at all today and she did not even know what happened that night that caused him to vanish. But Matsumoto told her not to worry over it since she believes he knows what he's doing.

Naori sighed and stretched out her tired arms. She could really use someone to take over for her. She really needed to concentrate on trying to communicate back with her zanpakuto.

Suddenly, a huge flash sparked through her sight and a large explosion could be heard through the premises. Another one of the buildings was completely annihilated with a huge explosion inside. It was glowing bright with smoky fumes coming out and it produced noticeable lightning bolts from the huge explosion.

"Sir! We have more casualties!" One of the lower seats reported when they brought one of the victims back. The victim of the explosion slumped onto the floor, jolting slightly with a loud static sound.

Naori only took a seconds look before flash stepping away from her spot. She quickly arrived at the destroyed building and cautiously approached it, ignoring the fleeing officers. "Still the same flashy and over-the-top entrance. Am I right? Denbaku-to!" Naori loudly called into the debris.

"My Lady, I think it looks stylish!" A voice sounded through the air and another huge explosion happened right in front of Naori. Naori frowned as she braced herself for another gust of sand and stone heading her way. When it was clear, she saw a male only a few inches taller than her. He had her shikai-state zanpakuto in the sheath strapped to his side and it was glowing like the person itself. He looked pretty lanky while wearing a button up golden silk shirt and dark blue billowing pants. He wore slippers used in martial arts and metal cuffs on his wrists that were so tightly bounded that it looked like wristbands. His hair shone with the same tone and color of Naori's hair except it was shorter and messier.

"So…you're also a part of the mass materialization of zanpakutos?" Naori confirmed as she shot a look at her own zanpakuto. "Have I ever told you how much I hate that? That stupid explosion whenever I activate you. Every time I go into shikai, something needs to always blow up."

"Sorry, I can't help it. It's my style." Denbaku-to replied with a grin almost equivalent to hers.

"Style, my butt." Naori murmured under her breath. "Are you gay or something?"

"Apologies that you feel that way, My Lady. You're just going to have to deal with it like everyone else." Her zanpakuto replied, still smiling.

"Enough with this talking. Get back into your sword form." Naori commanded as she pulled her sword out and presented it towards her zanpakuto.

"Like hell I'm going back in there! Denbaku-to haughtily refused.

"I don't have time for this Denbaku-to! Stop being so stubborn and get back in here or I'll make you." Naori crossly replied back, jutting out her sword so close that the tip was near Denbaku-to's face.

"Or what? You'll try to hit me? Maybe stab me?" Denbaku-to mockingly teased as he flash-stepped away from her. "I'm one of the top powerful zanpakuto of the lightning elements and I get held by a weakling like you. In fact, do you know what I hate? I hate the fact that My Lady is so damn weak. All it takes is one punch to knock you out. You get so easily restrained with the simplest kido spells. You couldn't even handle yourself against some low level mobsters! Your captain had to come and bail you out of it!"

"Denbaku-to. Haven't you seen me all this time? You know I've been working hard to change that!" Naori retorted back.

"And nothing's changed so far. Face it, My Lady, all you can actually do at an advanced level is heal." Denbaku-to said with a disgusted face showing right afterwards. "And do you know what I hate even more than the fact that my master is weak? I hate that my place is so plain! I mean, it's a slightly hilly grass plain and nothing else. It's so bland and boring. You could have at least put in a tree!"

Naori shot an angered and confused glance at her zanpakuto. In this time, she just got abandoned and told off by her own zanpakuto. She had been insulted about her weakness in fighting and that she is a complete weakling. And yet, her zanpakuto was clearly pissed at her mostly because she wouldn't decorate her own inner-world. Like she would even care about decorating her inner world! She never even paid attention to styles or anything useless like that.

"My Lady, if you want me to come back to your side…" Denbaku-to offered up as he drew out his own sword. "Fight me and beat me."

A near second later, Naori already had her sword drawn out and she could have nearly cut off his head if he didn't block in time. Their swords clashed with a loud metallic noise with golden sparks flying out. Naori glared at him as she tried to push even further with her sword. Denbaku-to grimaced from the strength that was coming from his former master and forcefully pushed her back at least a couple of feet.

"That was not cool! Who said you can attack all of a sudden?" Denbaku-to complained at Naori.

"I dislike how you have to get so dramatically flashy with everything you do. I **am** going to turn you back into my zanpakuto." Naori replied with a frown and she pointed her sword back at him. She really despised it now if someone ever called her weak. She was working hard to get stronger yet people still reject the fact she is no longer a weakling. They still had their minds stuck in the past of when she was a 4th Division member and she couldn't handle simple criminals. She wanted to erase those memories completely. If her own zanpakuto also clung onto those memories, then she will annihilate them all.

"I see My Lady decided to get serious. Let's see what happens!" Denbaku-to grinned as he drew out his sword in front of him again. "Strike!"

Naori quickly dodged an incoming bolt coming from the tip of the zanpakuto. She could hear and feel it hit something behind her and blow it up completely. Paying no attention, she flash stepped closer to Denbaku-to with her sword ready to clash. They crossed swords and split, yet to clash swords again with sparks flying around. Naori left her sword in one hand as she charged full force at him, swinging down precisely in one shot. Denbaku-to, of course, blocked the careless swing only to have something connect with his head. Naori swiftly landed back on the ground with her heel slightly aching and her arm somewhat tired from swinging a heavy sword.

Denbaku-to landed in the ground in a large thud with his hand reaching for his head. He could already feel a noticeable bump forming right where Naori kicked him. He smirked and backed up a couple more meters with his sword ready and fully charged. One by one, bolts of high electricity shot out from the tip and all were aiming right at Naori.

Naori effortlessly dodged every single one of those bolts and she quickly brought out her hand, having it aimed directly at her opponent. "Byakurai!" Naori shouted as loud as she could as she concentrated her spiritual pressure into the very tips of her fingers. A large bolt of blue lightning shot out and aimed itself right at the opponent.

"Sorry My Lady, but cheap imitations never beat the real thing." Denbaku-to calmly said as he blocked the bolt of lightning.

"Denbaku-to…" Naori whispered from right behind him, making his eyes widen in pure surprise. "You're wide open."

With a quick slash from her end, Naori made a clean and bloody cut right down his back. A cough of blood red came right out of his mouth and he staggered slightly towards the ground. Naori still remained in stance and she rose up her sword again, preparing for another slash. This time, she brought it down right onto his legs and effectively made him unable to even move.

"What…how…?" Denbaku-to grumbled as he coughed out more blood.

Naori didn't say a word as she walked up to him and stood tall right before him. Her bloodied sword was still clutched in her hand and it waved dangerously near his face. Her eyes shone with only a dull golden color and her face showed no emotion. "Hey Denbaku-to. It's time for you to get back in here." Naori quietly said, gripping tightly onto her sword and her chest.

"Is that so…" Denbaku-to said, gazing back up at her. "Finish me off…if you can that is…"

"Do you still think of me as weak? Do you think that I can't kill you?" Naori questioned as her tone slightly rose. "I just defeated you. Your blood is on my sword. I am standing before you with that same bloodied sword. Do you still think that I don't have the heart to kill you?" She monotonously said as she drifted the dripping tip closer to the neck of Denbaku-to.

"No. I'm your zanpakuto, aren't I? You're just talking big. My Lady." He simply replied and grinned back with a mischievous smile that only Naori could recognize.

Naori's blank and dull eyes suddenly blinked in expression and a recognizable shine returned. Her lips began to quiver and her hand, that was holding the sword, drew away from her opponent. She slowly stepped back away from him and still kept her head down as he started to get up. "You are still so dramatic and flashy. So annoying. So damn annoying…but right…"

"Of course." Denbaku-to replied, rolling his eyes. As he got up, he ran his hand through his back and his legs, making his wounds heal up after a quiet sizzle.

"But you are still my zanpakuto." Naori replied, eyeing back at him. "I'm thinking of remodeling the place for a while. Maybe I'll put in a tree…and a pond too."

"Using bribes to make things go your way. Huh? Clever. Just like how my owner acts." Denbaku-to said, grinning as he ruffled with the dark strands of Naori's hair. His hand could only stay there for a moment for he dispersed into a bright energy of yellow light and flowed right back into the sword in Naori's hands.

"You're so mean, Denbaku-to. Scaring me like that." Naori softly said and she clutched her sword closer to her. She could only hold it there for a few seconds for her grip gradually loosened. Her legs also turned to mere strings that could hold up any longer. The darkness overcame her eyes and she fell unconscious towards the ground. Her sword was lying down in front of her as it gradually landed with a soft thud.

"Well, seems like My Lady's wasted for the day. Can't blame her though. It's been a long day." Denbaku-to remarked as he materialized again and picked up his master. "I think I'll bring her to that place Hyourinmaru mentioned. I think her captain is staying there too?"

_

* * *

_

Yeah...you people are probably going to kill me for including a filler. Well, I already included a movie so I can drop in a filler. By the way, if you didn't catch it, Naori's zanpakuto is...very feminine (you know what...nevermind). I wanted her zanpakuto to be the more feminine side of Naori because she is always a nuetral kind of person. Why I didn't just make her zanpakuto a girl...it's more interesting.

Good news! I'm ending this memory lane storyline and getting back on track with the main thing! Excited! Now you get to see how the characters are going to solve through this entire mess. Wonder who will end up with who? Who is going to be alive or dead?

_Yet good news…comes with bad news. Bad news: FINALS._

_Review! And I'll post next chapter after my finals._


	27. Missed Visit

_Yes! No more school! Summer is here! Except I have a summer job so that's going to take some time out of my writing! My finals are done and I got very, very, very, very good grades from it. Since I'm sooo happy: Enjoy this chapter! …_

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**Missed Visit**

Naori steadily paced herself as she wandered mindlessly through the hallways of the division. Her eyes could only continually stare down into the wooden floor, which the placed boards were leading her back to the office. She didn't know why that after such an enjoying time with the Shinigami Women Association, she would come back looking solemn and exhausted. Maybe it was because she didn't want to think about her captain just yet? Just those mere fragments of memories were enough to end the story right there.

Naori glanced out to only see that so much of the day has passed by already. A dark night was already cascading about the skies. She groaned in unhappiness and pushed herself back into the office. She really needed to stop procrastinating and start getting all this paperwork done! Maybe some hard working should clear her mind. She sat down at the coffee table and began the fresh new stack. Just picking up the thin brush of ink reminded her of the days when she was here as a new coming recruit. Those days of when she really pissed off her captain and he put her through a hell of paperwork as punishment.

And yet, through those stories such as the one with the punishment, Matsumoto and Hinamori reminded Naori about that time she was ambushed by them. And they did something to her that made Hitsugaya lose the bet. Now what was it that they did? As Naori could remember, she was just relaxing on her leisure time when Hinamori took her away and she was knocked out from then on. What did they do to her that made him lose the bet?

Naori glanced back from her seat and saw Hitsugaya's desk like they described. She stood up and peered into the photo frames that were propped up around the desk. The photos looked pretty ordinary like Hitsugaya and Matsumoto professionally posing together as captain and lieutenant, Hinamori friendly hugging Hitsugaya, Matsumoto holding a map of her sake hideouts, Hitsugaya doing paperwork, and Matsumoto being passed out on the couch. They look pretty ordinary.

"Is that drool coming out of Matsumoto-fukutaicho's mouth?" Naori asked herself as she picked up the last frame.

As she picked up the hard wooden frame, another picture cleanly slid right out and fluttered around for only a bit before gliding into the floor. Mindlessly, Naori picked up the picture and turned it around to see what it was. Her eyes turned blank for a second and her lips slowly curved into a frown. Just why the hell was there a picture of her sleeping on the patio in her sleeping kimono? As it looks from the picture, she was laying backside down on the wooden patio with a flowered kimono on and her hair spreading out all over. Just when was this photo taken? And just when did she even have a flower designed sleeping kimono? Weren't her usual sleeping clothes gray or dull blue?

"Oh…that…now I get it." Naori said to herself in realization. Suddenly, an interested smile replaced her previous frowning lips. Naori gave a silent chuckle before replacing the photo back into its rightful place.

She really should stop wasting time like that by thinking of those meaningless things. It's time for all that paperwork to be done and written off. Hopefully, she still had those speed report writing skills back when she was issued the paperwork punishment. Naori quickly sat down on her seat and picked up the brush that was sitting in the inkbottle. Naori stared for only bits of seconds at the brush before slamming it back into the jar with a sigh. Oh she was not in the mood to be doing paperwork right now! She laid out her arms in front of her and placed her head snugly into the arms. Maybe some napping would help her?

In hours later, just as she drifted off into a deep sleep, an approaching sound approached her door and a stream of light shone through the crack of the door. A mere glimpse of white cloak waved through the tiny crack while the person at the door was being kept busy.

"Bed wetter Momo! Are you sure they're in here?" A recognizable and apathetic voice sounded through the door.

"Yes Shiro-chan! I'm positive they're in there!" Hinamori replied in her usual cheery voice.

"I'm going to ask Matsumoto first since she's already seen them more than twice." Hitsugaya wearily said and started to back away from the door.

"She's not going to be much of a help." Hinamori pointed out. "Rangiku-san's already passed out from today's meeting."

"Really? That moron…" Hitsugaya grumbled. "I'll try looking for them in the office then."

"Don't stay for too long Shiro-chan." Hinamori warned in a worried tone. "The Captain Commander wants to talk to you. Remember?"

"I know." Hitsugaya answered and proceeded to grab onto the handle to slide open the door.

"Also, don't wake her up!" Hinamori finally said in a hushed tone before flash stepping away from the scene. Yet in her little escape, she couldn't help but snicker slightly in the events to come.

He could only take a few steps when he saw a sleeping figure crouched over the coffee table. She didn't seem to stir at all when he entered and she didn't even bat an eye as he came a bit closer. Hitsugaya silently crept past Naori and grabbed a single piece of paper from one of the drawers. He neatly folded the old page and tucked it away in his hands before sneaking away again. Stopping, he glanced back at the still sleeping figure that was lying on the paper filled table.

Naori slept with her head lying sideways on her arms. The paperwork scattered about her body and some even fell onto the floor. Some strands of her blackish blue hair flowed down to trace out her eyes, cheeks, and lips. Her chest heaved up and down from the long breaths of air she was taking. Her legs were folded back when she was kneeling to work on the papers. The light of the moon shone right through the window and lit up her sleeping form, leaving Hitsugaya in the shadows.

He stared only once at her sleeping subordinate and left immediately afterwards. Such a sight like this was ordinary and daily for him that he could never figure out why the other subordinates liked her sleeping face. This was probably the tenth or fiftieth time he caught Naori sleeping on the job. Most of it, he admitted, was because of him. Yet, this was probably the third time he decided not to wake her up. And this was probably the first time he actually looked at her sleeping instead of a mere glance and a frustrated sigh.

Yet, he was not going to waste any more time in that office. She has her work to finish and he needed to resolve some problems. He walked out of his division area and quickly flash stepped to the 1st Division. On the way, he was thinking of what to say towards the Captain Commander Yamamoto.

"Come in." The old captain commanded towards the arriving presence at his doors.

Hitsugaya swiftly entered as the huge doors sung open in front of him. Yamamoto sat in his chair as he gazed questioningly at Hitsugaya who was walking towards him. Hitsugaya seemed to show no fear or hesitation as he was approaching the old captain.

"I assume you already know why I called you in here." Yamamoto began, staring intently at Hitsugaya who seemed not be bothered at all. "I'm questioning the status of the mission that was given to you. Also, there's the matter of your subordinate, Naori Hibana, who's been causing some trouble lately. Care to explain?"

"Yes, I can explain all the trouble that has happened in the world of the living." Hitsugaya replied.

"Is there any trouble with the young entity you have been assigned to dispose? I haven't seen much progress lately." Yamamoto questioned.

"I'm working on it. I assure you that this situation is going smoothly." Hitsugaya quickly answered.

"Okay…Hitsugaya-taicho…I can believe your statement. But I have a warning for you. If the situation of this problem does not progress any further, I am more than willing to kill that girl for the good of that world and deal with her body vessel later" Yamamoto stated and Hitsugaya nodded in agreement.

"I see. I'll permit you to that." Hitsugaya replied, yet there was a cold sense in his voice.

"Also, let's deal with the situation of your subordinate, Naori Hibana." Yamamoto said as he flipped through the papers beside him. "She has committed treason for her attempt to kill a human, attacking a captain, and resisting arrest. It was also proven in the tests and previous events that her mentality is weak and unstable."

"I believe I've already have full knowledge of that." Hitsugaya stated.

"Has this ever happened before in the time that you had her?" Yamamoto asked.

"I have witnessed mere glimpses of Naori acting this way. Yet, she never acted this severely before. This was the first time I've witnessed it." Hitsugaya answered.

"I can arrange for her to be moved to another division if this is too much of a problem for you." Yamamoto offered. "Or I can place her in a ward until she gets better and then, we can deal with her."

Hitsugaya thought about the offer that Yamamoto had given him. Was this better for the both of them? He could manage this mission without having to worry about Naori and she will get better now that she lost all contact from the trigger of her mental break. Yet, he knew that it would not help anyways later on. "Neither, I am going to request for you to keep her in my division." Hitsugaya answered after the long hesitation.

"Are you sure? Can you handle her after all of this?" Yamamoto questioned.

"Yes, I'm definitely keeping her in my division." Hitsugaya bluntly answered back with his intentions clearly placed in his words.

"Okay then, I cannot veto your decision so Naori Hibana may stay within your division." Yamamoto announced while witnessing a slight sign of relief from the young captain.

"Though I have a request to make." Hitsugaya said and stared back at the captain to get his attention. "Allow me to request an important item from the 12th Division and…and remove Naori completely from this mission."

Hitsugaya reached from out of his sleeves and chucked the piece of paper right at Yamamoto. The old captain caught it with ease and read the few words on the page and examined the drawn diagram.

"Request granted. You are allowed full access to any required items in the 12th Division." Yamamoto declared yet his eyes spoke otherwise afterwards.

"Is something the matter? Head Captain?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Your other request…" Yamamoto muttered. "Your other request…I'll grant that as well. But I cannot guarantee that she is going to stay out of the world of the living for good. Naori Hibana may need to go back there sooner or later. And I cannot promise that I will stop her from going back."

Hitsugaya nodded in agreement, knowing that it was futile to ask for a reason. It was already evident ever since he spoke with Ukitake about the incident. The idea of just outright killing the entity came from Naori and she almost executed that idea before. If there was no law or she was given the right, she would definitely try to kill the entity again. It was not a good idea and yet, not a bad idea as well. If Yamamoto could choose anyone for the task, it would be Naori. She already knew too much about the entity to begin with.

That is…if Hitsugaya kept the mission going nowhere like it was now. It was evident that Yamamoto was warning him through Naori and the mission. Hitsugaya got the message that he needed to finish it fast. If Hitsugaya could guess, Yamamoto was already predicting something disastrous happening later on.

"I understand." Hitsugaya said and turned away from the old captain. "I'll be taking my leave."

"One more thing." Yamamoto declared, making Hitsugaya halt in his place. "Your interactions with the entity. I don't know what you are planning or what you are going to do in the end but I'm still expecting the same results. Is that understood?"

"Yes."

_

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_

She does not wake up! Gasp! (Whatever, she'll meet up with him eventually later. )

_Because it's the summer and I'm in such a happy and giddy mood, expect a chapter to come out soon! If I don't procrastinate too much on actually writing it…I think all that procrastinating on schoolwork is affecting my writing as well._

_Oh well…Review! Please!_


	28. Rescued

_Yes! A fast update! Thank you summer! Since I'm posting back to back…I have nothing else to say. Just prepare for some squealing and such at the end of this chapter…that is if you're that type._

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**Rescued**

"Is that all you needed to tell me? If not, so why else did you request to have me sent here?" Naori questioned and folded her arms at her chest. She was sitting in the very dark office…or laboratory…of the Twelfth Division across from Kurotsuchi himself. She sat in a simple sofa with a nice little side table with some tea set up. In the back of Naori's mind, she was wondering why this arrangement was in such a weird place like Kurotsuchi's lab.

"As you know, you were sent back and expelled from your previous mission. Afterwards, your captain, Hitsugaya, visited Soul Society to retrieve some items." Kurotsuchi said.

"Kurotsuchi-taicho, permit me, but please hurry up in whatever you are saying." Naori said in a clipped voice. "I have to depart on the new mission Captain Commander Yamamoto is sending me on."

"So the young Fifth Seat is still aggravated about her new mission." Kurotsuchi lightly commented, earning a bad sign of fizzing coming from his gadgets. "Well, to shorten things, Hitsugaya-taicho forgot to take this little gadget back with him. It is essential with all the other stuff he has already taken. So while you're in the world of the living, bring this to him, will you?"

"I will." Naori quickly said and retrieved the wrapped package that Kurotsuchi was giving to her. _'I'll leave it…on his front entrance that is…'_

"That is all then. You may go." Kurotsuchi curtly said and waved his hand to dismiss Naori.

Naori silently nodded and quickly disappeared right out of that division. She was glad anyways. That division was creeping her out to no ends. Thank the heavens that she was never assigned to that division. As Naori was walking out, she saw a slight movement from one of the walls and even a blur of blue maybe.

"Hinamori-fukutaicho? What do you want?" Naori questioned and motioned for the girl to come out.

"Naori-chan. I was issued by Yamamoto-taicho to escort you in the world of the living. Just in case if anything happens." Hinamori replied with a smile.

"Nothing is going to happen." Naori mumbled to herself as Hinamori ran to catch up. "I'm not even going to touch the mission Hitsugaya-taicho is on with that entity girl. I'm just going to be checking on the progress. By the way, what's with Yamamoto-taicho these days?"

"He's just being a nice person!" Hinamori suggested. "And, Naori-chan, I'm only going to be there for the first day just to see if you can handle it."

"Right…" Naori sighed. "Let's go Hinamori. It's time to depart anyway."

* * *

"So, I'm guessing this girl who got in a car crash recently is Hitsugaya-kun's target." Hinamori said, pointing out the picture of Amui being carried away in a stretcher at the scene.

The two girls were just hanging around at an open café with Hinamori reading a newspaper she found. Both of them dressed very casually on the occasion since they both needed to blend in with the crowd. Their gigais also made it possible for their spiritual pressure to be sealed off and Hinamori's limiter helped as well. All of this was necessary since it was _somewhat_ crucial for Hitsugaya to not sense them now at this moment.

"Yeah…that's the girl…Amui Shizumiya." Naori replied with a dismayed tone traced in her voice.

"My! It seems Naori-chan is going through the stages of jealousy." Hinamori lightly remarked with a giggling smile.

"Don't be ridiculous." Naori said in a clipped voice and took a quick sip out of her drink.

"Are you sure of that? I see the both of them coming in right now." Hinamori pointed out and nodded in the direction of the pair.

Naori turned back to have a quick glance at the both of them. She studied the pair as Amui broke off to sit at a table and Hitsugaya went into the café to get whatever. Nothing was strange here so Naori turned her sight away from the two. She took up her drink again and took a very long sip from the straw. Her posture and face held a very dignified look, yet inside, she really wanted to do something else less like it.

"She has a cute face. I see why Hitsugaya-kun might like her. Her hair is nice and long and it's such a nice color too. But, she looks so frail and she seems so tired as well. That girl's looks like she's not in the best shape." Hinamori mused around, trying to see a change in Naori's composure.

"She's probably still traumatized." Naori half-heartedly remarked as she played around with her straw in boredom.

Hinamori peered into the café shop to get a better look at what was happening inside. She witnessed that after Naori made those smart remarks, the drink machines in the café started to act a little unusual. Now, a worker was frantically trying to fix the mess that blew up on another guy that was getting ice. Obviously, Hitsugaya noticed this as well and he luckily sidestepped out of the mess.

Just from that simple action, Hinamori realized right then that their positions were clearly given away. Good job on Naori for that! Yet, she still kept her mouth shut and pretended nothing had happened at all. It was possible that they could still continue the mission with Hitsugaya's knowledge of their presence. At least, he wouldn't get away with anything really scandalous or anything that could really tip Naori off over the edge. And Hinamori had to admit, this was actually pretty funny.

"What's with that face?" Naori asked.

"Oh it's nothing! Naori-chan!" Hinamori quickly replied in a wave of her hands, leaving Naori only slightly suspicious and confused.

Throughout the entire day, both of the girls followed Hitsugaya and Amui around with somewhat hilarious results occurring. At a local shopping mall, Amui and Hitsugaya wandered into an electronics store. With Naori only a few aisles down, about one, two or three speakers were blaring out loud at max volume. As Naori went closer to the cell phone area, since she was debating on getting a new phone, she saw one of the pictures taken from a camera phone. It was one of the pictures that were taken right in the store with Amui smiling brightly and Hitsugaya looking as bored as usual. She slowly placed the phone back and quickly went back to a waiting Hinamori…after every single cell phone mysteriously rang right in that store.

Throughout the entire day, anything electronic or running on electricity would act very strange. In Miyuba Park, the fountains and sprinklers would somehow burst shots of water and drench any nearby park goers. A nearby arcade became a mess after the game booths started to randomly spit out tickets. Even a local fair became a disaster when one too many light bulbs blew out.

Another instance of this happened around the movie theater where Amui dragged Hitsugaya to see some horror movie. Naori and Hinamori followed close behind as they snuck into the same movie with them.

"You know, Naori-chan, I often hear rumors that the tradition here is to grab onto someone close when something scary happens." Hinamori said during the movie.

"It's a rumor." Naori quickly said and popped another popcorn into her mouth.

As the movie played, Hinamori kept a close eye on Naori who was keeping a close eye on a certain pair a couple of seats down. Naori quickly caught Hinamori's eyes on her and she ceased her gaze right there. Hinamori simply smirked and leaned back as well, ceasing her surveillance on Naori.

"Naori-chan! I can tell-AAH!" Hinamori shrieked and jumped up high in her seat.

Suddenly, the movie cut itself right at that part and the screen switched blank with little to no static. People started to glance around, mostly nervous and confused at what was happening. Naori just sat still in her place and patiently waited for the frenzy to stop.

"Sorry. We are experiencing some technical difficulties. Please wait until further notice." A message suddenly blared out from the speakers.

The lights unexpectedly turned on with everyone reacting in plain confusion. Yet Naori calmly excused herself and left the theater. Hinamori was looking in her direction when she spotted a familiar icy glare from the corner of her eye. Hinamori glanced back in his direction and nodded in his silent suggestion.

Hinamori quickly ran out and caught up with Naori, who was already exiting the building. "Naori-chan! I have to go now…but before I do, exit out of your gigai for a moment."

Slightly puzzled, Naori retrieved her Gikongon and popped out of her gigai. She stood in the streets in her shinigami form while waiting for Hinamori to come out as well. Hinamori quickly joined her in their shinigami forms and she led the both of them closer to the park.

"Naori-chan, please expose your left chest so a limiter may be placed there. No exceptions." Hinamori commanded.

"What! Hinamori-fukutaicho?" Naori gasped in shock, not even bothering to pull back the clothing on her left chest.

"Sorry Naori-chan, but this has to be done. Follow the orders of a lieutenant, Fifth Seat Naori Hibana." Hinamori replied, walking a bit closer to Naori. "This was an order given by the Head Captain and enforced by another captain. It's meant to keep you under control so there is no harm done."

"But-but…" Naori tried to retort yet nothing could come to her mind.

"Fifth Seat!" Hinamori scolded.

Naori sighed in defeat and pulled the hem of her robe back, knowing that she was defeated and had to follow direct orders. Soon, a tattoo of a daffodil appeared on her chest and she felt a sudden surge of power leaving her. She felt so weak, so weak that she couldn't even exist where she was in the world of the living. Her usual power became so depleted that it became nothing so much that she was feeling powerless. Her legs suddenly shook and collapsed at the moment like she was already losing the power to stand.

"I guess it's a bit hard on you seeing that you've always been at full power until now. The first time with the limiter always feels weird and it takes time getting used to it. I'm sure you'll do fine though." Hinamori reassured her with a smile. She slowly helped Naori get back into her gigai that was sitting at a nearby bench. When she was done, Hinamori smiled one last time at Naori before leaving with a good-bye wave. After all, she was only issued to be with Naori for one day.

Naori stayed sitting on that bench while blankly staring into space. She had no idea how much time had passed while she was in this state of shocked. She did not know if it had been hours or mere seconds. Everything felt so disorienting to her. Finally, after some time, Naori began to regain some feel back into her legs and body and she could move her head far enough to see a nearby clock. She groaned in her weak pain to get up and walk away from the bench.

"So damn weak. So weak." Naori muttered as she stumbled around to find her way. She could at least move, but her legs felt like it was made out of lead and her shoes were fashioned from gold.

Naori sighed and turned the corner of an alleyway, which was her shortcut back to the apartment. She felt so tired and so weak that she couldn't make it if she took her usual route. She definitely needed this little shortcut. It took Naori some time to finally speed up her pace a little and she no longer required any support from her surroundings. Naori trudged her way through the twisting alley, trying to remember which way was her shortcut route. She glanced around in confusion, thinking maybe her disorienting mind did not wear out yet and it was still in effect. Naori quickly shook the idea off and tried to continue her path until she heard a stranger's footsteps.

"Hey you! What's a pretty little girl like you doing in a shady place like this?" She heard a man call out to her.

"I'm leaving." Naori answered in a quick sense and started to walk away.

"How about if we help you? I think you'll like it better than getting lost." A different man said with his voice approaching closer to Naori.

"I'm not going to appreciate it. Go away." Naori replied again and tried to walk away faster.

"I think you will." The man replied with his voice being eerily close to Naori's ears.

Suddenly, Naori felt someone's hand tightly grabbing onto her arm and she felt herself pulled back from her run. She gave a sudden jerk that was hard enough to release her arm for the moment. Through that jerk, she found herself twirling back and facing the harassers. The two thugs, who were after her, were coming in closer and closer.

"If it weren't for my current state, I could really kill you right now." Naori threatened, yet she felt that her voice was already losing confidence. What is with her? How could she be afraid of mere humans? Was it because of that stupid limiter placed on her?

"Trying to act tough huh?" One of them questioned and lunged at her, grabbing her arms again. "Then let's see what happens to you!"

Naori gasped in fright and closed her eyes to block out the frightening vision. This cannot be happening to her. She thought this kind of stuff only happened in television shows or movies. If only there wasn't the limiter holding her back, she could really do something about these guys. Yet, the limiter took away so much of her power and the gigai restraining her made this almost impossible. But she could always still try.

"Get away from me!" Naori yelled, feeling herself losing it at the moment. She swiftly lifted her leg and went right for the shin of the man holding her. Yet it proved fatal as it only angered him further to push her completely into the brick walls.

"You are really asking for it!" He growled, pressing Naori even harder into the brick wall.

Naori frantically tried another tactic she learned from movies and books, which was to scream as loud as possible. She would be losing her dignity, but it was better than her current situation. Naori opened her mouth and tried to scream, but only a small squeak came out before a hand enclosed her mouth.

Naori struggled in plain fear as she was trying her best to get away from her attackers. This situation became even more of a nightmare for her. What was she to do? She never went through something like this in her powerless form. It was all too new for her and she felt she couldn't handle it anymore. This situation began to frighten her even more and she struggled harder to resist. Everything was futile though. It was all useless. Nothing was going to help. She was scared.

"Help me…" She managed to muffle to herself.

A tear rolled down from Naori's closed eyes while she continued to resist as much as she can. Her legs were starting to grow tired and her arms were already aching in pain. Suddenly, her legs gave out on her completely again and she collapsed sitting on the floor. Her dull eyes could only stare down blankly with her tears making wet puddles on the ground.

"The girl's given up already. Makes things easier for us." The guy said with a smirk as he reached for Naori's wet cheeks.

"I…I really want to kill you…I want to kill you right now…Just die…" Naori dully said in a whisper.

Unfortunately, he didn't seem to hear her when she felt his fingertips actually touching her cheeks. Naori was more than ready to swat that hand away and she readied her hand from her side. She felt around with her other hand until she luckily found a lone brick sitting beside her. Yet, at that moment, the touch quickly left her cheek and she heard a yelp of pain. The guy fell back in a heap while clutching painfully on his hand, like something had shot through it. In fact, there was already blood flowing out from the bundle of his hands.

"You really had to make her cry, didn't you? I could have left you guys alone and be killed by her." A familiar voice remarked and she heard another yelp of pain coming out from the other thug this time.

Naori slightly turned her gaze to the side and recognized the dark silhouette from the edge of the alley. That familiar short figure and the undeniable spiky hair could only point towards her captain. Hitsugaya calmly walked over to the thugs as he casually tossed some pebbles around in his hands. His face held the usual frown and he looked as apathetic as usual. Suddenly, his pebble tossing stopped and he cleanly chucked another pebble right into the face of one of the thugs. That thug loudly groaned in pain and fell backwards while holding onto his face.

"I'm not above people who make my subordinates cry…but I'm not above killing weak humans either." Hitsugaya calmly said and chucked another pebble just to frighten them. "Get out of my sight already before I seriously get mad. And never come near her again or I'll tear you to pieces. Understood?"

The menacing footsteps that once threatened Naori were now running away and becoming only distant echoes. Yelps of fear and further pain continued to echo off the walls. Meanwhile, some golden color returned back into Naori's once dull eyes and she ceased her tears at that instance. Her once tense hands slowly relaxed and her free hand left the hard brick. Yet her body felt so frail and weak that it just gave up on her completely, making it hard for her to move once again. She stayed there in her kneeling position with her head still facing the ground.

Hitsugaya tiredly sighed and went over to help Naori. She managed to slightly get up and stand still for only a second, before falling back over towards the side. Luckily, she fell right to the side and into her captain, Hitsugaya, who swiftly caught her in her fall. He glanced down at Naori, whose face was already tired and near asleep. She looked almost like she was passed out ever since that encounter. Hitsugaya could only sigh again since he now knew what he was going to have to do. He quickly maneuvered Naori so she was resting on his back and he walked only a few feet out of the alleyway and back out to the streets leading to their neighborhood.

"Hitsugaya-taicho…" Naori weakly mumbled during the trip. She was probably not even half awake at all. For some odd reason, she found herself pressed against Hitsugaya's back and she was somehow moving as well. All that was in her sight was a huge mass of spiky white hair.

"Yeah." Hitsugaya replied.

"I…I…really could…handle…dumb…why…" Naori tried to say, but she was already drifting back to sleep in her weak moment.

"Just rest." He could only say those words towards her as a captain's command.

"Okay…Hitsu…kun…"

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So cute! And thus, this ends all the Hitsu/Nao fluff. Time to get back to the real action and point of this story. Also, back to the middle of the Amui/Hitsugaya/Naori triangle! Joy! And yes, I may be pushing it a little in the Bleach physics here. It's for the sake of comedy and other stuff...yeah...

_Review!_


	29. Resolved

_Ughhh! AP summer homework! I'm so damn stupid! Why oh why did I ever agree to do AP for my sophomore year? Why? So much freaking work to do and memorization! It's a killer!_

_Cough…Other than my ranting because I'm stuck doing an AP course…please enjoy this chapter while I continue to rant and agonize over the subject. Thank you._

_WHY!_

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**Resolved**

"So what were you and Hinamori doing here?" Hitsugaya asked and handed Naori a glass of water.

Naori took a sip and leaned back comfortably back in the bed she was resting in. Her fingers played with the edges of the glass cup as she stared down at her reflection in the water. As she recalled, Hitsugaya carried her back to their apartments and he decided to let her rest in his bed. He probably couldn't find the keys or something like that. Now, as Naori woke up to her surroundings, she found herself lying in a very neat and mundane bedroom. She was somehow wearing her black uniform and her zanpakuto was placed beside her when she woke up. After a while of glancing around at herself, Naori figured that she was in her shinigami form because she could heal faster. It took only a single glance out the window for her to figure out where she was and once she did, he came into the room, surprised that she finally woke up.

Naori took a slight glance at him before whipping her head back to its original place. She opened her lips to say something but silence overtook them. For moments only, there was complete silence with the occasional chirps and calls from the birds. Finally, after the brief silence, Naori hesitantly decided to speak up. "Orders from the Captain Commander." Naori softly answered, tugging gently on the sheets she was resting in. Now that she realized, this was getting pretty awkward. As she remembered, she wanted to kill him a couple days ago. Now they were calmly talking and chatting around like nothing happened.

"What did he order you two to do?" Hitsugaya continued to question as he took a seat at her bedside.

"Just to report back on your progress with the mission. I wasn't planning on resuming my original mission. Also, Hinamori left since she was only going to be here for a while." Naori steadily answered without even looking at him.

'_There would be another reason why Hinamori would be sent here either than to baby sit Naori for a day…'_ Hitsugaya frowned at the thought, quickly figuring out that Naori was hiding something from him. He slightly tapped her on the shoulders to get her full attention. "So why were you so beaten up?" He asked, watching her reaction closely.

Naori took only a moment's glance at him before turning away, her hand grabbing for the collar of her uniform and pulling it close to herself. Yet he was quick to catch that slight movement and he swiftly reached out to grab her hand. Hitsugaya only jerked her hand slightly back so she could not react long enough to resist. But that simple action was enough to reveal a partial sight of Naori's bare skin and a glimpse of the dark tattoo on her chest.

"A daffodil tattoo…that's the 10th division limiter mark. Hinamori must have placed that on you. No wonder." Hitsugaya remarked.

Naori quickly slapped his hand away and tucked her clothes back into its conservative style. "What about it? It doesn't make a difference." She quickly lied, thinking of a way to save her decreasing dignity.

"No difference, huh? Do you even know what this means?" Hitsugaya lectured with a worried frown. "A limiter is used to severely limit a captain's and lieutenant's spiritual pressure. You don't even have up to that level of spiritual pressure and you're wearing one. This means you're completely powerless here. Soul Society must have been extra cautious when they decided to send you back."

"Whatever, so they were, but I'm not even doing anything regarding this mission so it's pointless." Naori mumbled back. Yet she managed to smile a little after witnessing his concern as a captain. Little by little, through this simple conversation, she was feeling a bit at ease with him.

"So you're just here to collect information? Nothing dangerous?" Hitsugaya questioned.

"Yes Hitsugaya-taicho." Naori responded, now fully talking with her usual tone and mood when she is with him, her usual business and serious-like voice.

"Nothing has really changed much since you left. Amui Shizumiya is now currently our target and Haruka Ayumishi was recently confirmed to no longer have any spiritual pressure. But that is it though." Hitsugaya said with a long sigh and haughtily crossed his arms within thought. "I've only gathered bits and pieces on the origins of this spiritual pressure from the original entity. I've already thought up of some ways to eliminate the entity. But that is unfortunately it."

"Is that so…I guess I should tell…maybe…" Naori continued to mumble to herself while deep in thought.

"What's bothering you now?" Hitsugaya asked as he realized her behavior.

"Well…Hitsugaya-taicho…after that incident…I sort-of figured I shouldn't include myself into this mission. But I did receive some information from Kurotsuchi-taicho and due to the lack of progress…maybe I should tell it…just in case." Naori quietly said and stared back down at her glass of water.

"You figured? So you weren't ordered to keep yourself out of this mission." Hitsugaya replied in realization. "As your captain, disclose the information immediately."

"Okay…I guess…" Naori mumbled and took a long breath before facing her captain. With a monotone voice, one that Hitsugaya could recognize when she's on a mission, she began reciting the information. "After the announcement of the discovery of the entity, Kurotsuchi-taicho went through his records to find the background of such a large spiritual pressure. Apparently the spiritual pressure is a collection of other spiritual power and it was something dormant and sealed back. Unfortunately, that phenomenon is still a bit unclear. Also, Kurotsuchi-taicho managed to discover one of the properties of this spiritual pressure. Apparently, this spiritual pressure is not necessarily contained by one vessel and it is free to move from vessel to vessel. That is all Kurotsuchi-taicho told me."

"So…did Kurotsuchi-taicho find the location of the area of the spiritual power? I may have a slight guess on where it could be." Hitsugaya asked.

"He gave me the coordinates." Naori said and pointed towards one of her cell phone memos where she recorded such information.

Hitsugaya took the coordinates and entered them into his phone as well. He did a quick scan of the map that came up and zoomed further out. Analyzing the neighborhood surrounding the area and analyzing the information he was given, he as quick to figure out exactly where the mysterious spiritual pressure's origins came from.

"Just as I suspected." Hitsugaya remarked and snapped his phone shut. "The area of the spiritual power was at a specific location in a local park. If my hypothesis is correct, I believe this is the same location where Ayumishi, our original target, was strangely standing for an entire night. As Shizumiya explained, she was standing at this special bench secluded from the rest of the park."

"Interesting." Naori remarked with another sip of water. "This reminds me of that dumb autobiography book I was forced to read. What was it? _Memories of Miyuba_ or something like that? The author, that lovesick guy, never finds this Miyuba girl and he decides to make a memento for her. He died after just finishing the plaque and it sort-of disappeared to the point where no one ever found it again. I didn't even bother to look since it's probably torn down by now."

"Really? If all that you say is true, then maybe that little plaque I found in the secluded area may be the same as the one you're describing and that is also in the same location where Ayumishi was that night. It seems like you never realized the book's title was the same as the park's name." Hitsugaya smartly remarked back, slightly pissing off Naori as usual.

"It could have been a coincidence." Naori coolly replied back.

"I don't think so. There are too many factors present that it can't be ruled out as a mere coincidence." Hitsugaya pointed out. "A confirmed secluded area and a memento that disappeared in the same location. Also, there was the collection of spiritual pressure that was gathering in the exact same location where Ayumishi was spending the night. It's all too connected to be a coincidence."

"Then what do you suspect happened?" Naori suspiciously questioned.

"This is just a guess…" Hitsugaya said and frowned while he racked through his head for a clear idea. "If you assume that the author of that book was spiritually aware, then his spiritual power somehow became dormant and stayed stationary in the location of his memento. After that, as you mentioned, the memento was never found again and the spiritual power's dormant state must have attracted other soul's spiritual power to be collected until it got to its current level of five captains. Then, for some odd reason, Ayumishi decided to go there one night and she must have absorbed all of that spiritual power into her own body. Since the spiritual power is able to move freely, it must have somehow transferred over to Shizumiya's body where it currently is now."

"That is a plausible argument." Naori mumbled aloud while thinking deeply as well. "From your statement, is it safe to assume some other properties of the spiritual pressure? Can it still collect other spiritual power in its current state? Can the current vessel use the spiritual pressure?"

"All of that is possible…but I think it's safe to assume that the spiritual pressure is limited. It can collect spiritual power in its dormant state, but it's currently in a human vessel and due to a human's spiritual nature, I don't think anymore spiritual power can be collected." Hitsugaya confidently answered yet his faced frowned once again. "Yet…I'm not sure about the entity actually using the spiritual pressure…it's very possible…"

"So I guess the spiritual pressure is limited to the level of five captain's…but that's still a lot though…" Naori pointed out. "If we assume that the entity can actually use the spiritual pressure, a good alternative of ridding it would be to let the spiritual pressure be all used up."

"But that's going to take almost decades! And what is the entity going to use all that spiritual pressure for anyway?" Hitsugaya replied back.

"I don't know…or the other way's also possible…" Naori quietly mumbled luckily without Hitsugaya even noticing.

"So this is all we got …" Hitsugaya mumbled while still deep in thought. Unexpectedly, his mind snapped back as if he suddenly remembered something that he must attend to. "I just remembered, I have something to do about this." Hitsugaya quickly said and grabbed some nearby wrapped items on the bedside table.

"Going to see entity girl?" Naori questioned with eyebrows raised. "You know…it's a bit ridiculous for saying this…but you know that it's against policies for something like this to happen…"

Again, another wave of awkward silence entered between them, with Naori staring right at her captain's eyes and Hitsugaya trying to interpret what she was saying.

Hitsugaya looked back at the serious girl with only a slightly puzzled look. "Naori? What are you talking about? I'm just going to gather more data about the entity using 12th Division equipment." He answered. "Why would you ask that? Are you thinking of something else?"

"Nothing. Forget it." Naori quickly mumbled back and conveniently stared out the window to avoid eye contact. Oh! That was so stupid of her to ask that! Now he's going to catch on sooner or later!

Just from observing his subordinate, Hitsugaya was quick to realize what she was really talking about. Knowing that he shouldn't be pressing on the subject any further, Hitsugaya quickly packed the rest of his equipment into his bag and prepared to leave. Yet, before he even thought about going to the entrance, he took a last glance of his subordinate and replied back, "Whatever you were asking…I have no intentions of that. My duties as a captain have and always came first and I don't intend on abandoning it. This is nothing to be concerned about."

Naori didn't even bother to turn back to look at him so he couldn't really see her facial reaction. But he already knew that she was too uncomfortable to even glance at him in the eye. Hitsugaya quickly got up from his seat and began to head out the door.

"Hitsugaya-taicho!" Naori suddenly called and tossed a tiny wrapped package at him. "Kurotsuchi-taicho wanted me to give this to you since you forgot it. I didn't look at it or anything."

"Right." Hitsugaya said and swiftly caught the flying package. He placed it with all his other equipment and glanced back at his subordinate. "Naori, just sleep and rest for today. The best way to get accustomed to the limiter is to just rest."

"I know…I know…" Naori mumbled back while comfortably leaning back on the pillows. She was just planning on doing that anyway since she was still feeling weak and tired.

"Hey Fifth Seat Naori…are you okay?" Hitsugaya hesitantly asked as if out of nowhere.

Naori gave her captain a slight puzzled look before replying, "Yes…I'm okay…"

He nodded and quickly vanished out the door, leaving Naori only to watch him as he left. Naori briefly sighed and laid back into the bed with the covers enveloping her body. She snuggled her head closer into the soft pillows and drifted herself to sleep. She still felt a bit weak to even get up and move around. The limiter was unfortunately just too much for her alone. Now, she could only rest in this bed and recover for the meantime. She couldn't go out and watch her captain continue the mission alone or do anything about the mission even.

Naori stared into the empty space of the day lit room, finding it even harder to rest at this hour. She sighed in discomfort and closed her eyes once again with her fingers wrapping itself around a bloody red ribbon.

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I appreciate you reading this chapter and please review till I post the next chapter. That is…if I even have time to write the next chapter. So much to do this summer! I got a summer job, volunteering, AP homework, summer reading, and writing this. I'm filled!

_Other than that…as stated above…Review!_


	30. Stepping Forward

_Yeah…have not updated in a verrrrryyyy loooonggg time…my bad! So enjoy this chapter that I managed to put up in my vacation time. Hope you all were patiently waiting!_

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**Stepping Forward**

Amui nervously fingered her cell phone as she stood to wait for him to come. She was happy to meet him again of course, yet she also felt anxious and nervous at the same time. Was it because of that incident a couple days back? Was she growing afraid of these beings of shinigami? She now knew, from her experience, that messing with these shinigami was very dangerous and they both warned her well.

Or was it because she noticed that _she_ was back again?

"Shizumiya."

That voice was enough to snap her back to her senses and she quickly stashed her phone away at his presence. "Hitsugaya-kun…" Amui replied back nervously. He appeared so fast that she couldn't even notice him.

"Is something the matter?" Hitsugaya asked.

"No! Nothing!" Amui quickly retorted with a nervous shake of her hands.

"You don't sound like it."

"Maybe it's because I just got out of the hospital! You know?" She answered back, hoping to stray away from the question.

"You noticed she came back, didn't you?" He bluntly pointed out.

"Huh? Uh yeah…I did…" Amui quietly said.

"How?" Hitsugaya asked, wanting to know a bit more.

"Well…I discovered a couple weeks ago that if I concentrate real hard then I get these strands of ribbons. It's actually pretty cool!" Amui replied with smiles.

'_So the container can actually use the borrowed spiritual pressure? This makes everything a bit more difficult. Though we should be fine if that is the extent she could be in. If she managed to form her own special powers…then we are going to have more trouble.'_ Hitsugaya thought as Amui continued to babble away.

"Hibana-san…is she safe now?"

"Yeah she's fine now. She's just recuperating in her room now." He answered back. "Are you still scared?"

"Honestly…I am. But I wonder if it's possible for her stay up there? Where you shinigami live. It's my life that's on the line now." She mumbled quietly to herself, hoping that Hitsugaya would not hear.

"Well if you're still scared, then wear this." Hitsugaya continued saying and held out a tiny and oddly shaped item that looked similar to a hair clip. "If you keep this with you at all times, Naori won't be able to get pass the shield that encompasses you."

Amui softly smiled back at him and gently clasped her hands around his when receiving his gift. "Thank you, Hitsugaya-kun." She said while trying to bite back her tears. "Thank you for always protecting me. I don't know what would have happened to me then so…thank you."

"There's no need to cry about it." He awkwardly replied and quickly pulled his hand away. He could never deal well with people who start crying and here was one right now tearing up before him.

"Hitsugaya-kun!" Amui embarrassedly exclaimed as those tears quickly vanished just as they came.

"Control yourself Shizumiya. Your spiritual pressure levels are fluctuating." Hitsugaya warned her.

"Sorry." Amui sheepishly apologized. "But it's only a slight difference. Not much of a change."

"That slight difference can bring a whole lot of trouble."

"Yes it can…"

Both of them turned their attention towards the newcomer of the conversation. Naori walked out from around the corner and started making her way towards the two people in front of her. She held a blank look with dull eyes as she continued to stare Amui down. Her zanpakuto bounced slightly against her hip and her dark bangs swayed up against her golden eyes. Those dark robes that loomed over her body made her seem like a walking shadow of death. Amui silently shrieked under her breath from the scary sight and subconsciously started to back away from the shinigami. Was it another nightmare?

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Hitsugaya demanded.

"Who can sleep at this hour?" Naori replied as she averted her gaze away and towards Amui. "Besides, I can't rest with these crazy spiritual pressure levels bouncing all over the place."

Amui felt an eerie chill run up her back when Naori focused her attention back on her. Her chest started to grow tighter and her breaths came out at quick paces. The scary image of Naori started to blur in her vision and her whole world suddenly turned black. She let out a slight gasp and her body loosed up all of a sudden. She couldn't see, hear, or feel anymore now. Everything around her was dark.

Hitsugaya quickly caught the falling girl once she had fainted. Naori simply perked her eyebrows in amusement as she watched the scenario play out in front of her. Exactly how much was this girl scarred?

"Good job Naori." Hitsugaya sarcastically told her as he laid Amui's body safely onto the ground.

"I didn't do anything. Humans, like her, are just weak." Naori replied back in her justified statement. She haughtily blew a stray bang out of her bright golden eyes and crossed her arm at her chest, which was clothed with a tight orange tank top.

"No matter." Hitsugaya sighed as he ran his fingers through his snowy hair. "I'll bring her back to her home. You go back and rest till you get used to the limiter."

"Hey! Didn't I just say I can't-"

_Bang! _

Both of the shinigami stopped their little bickering to notice the sudden noise just down the road. A shrieking hollow was yelling all over the place, suddenly prompting more to appear within the vicinity. The whole mass of hollows were screeching out loud as if they were calling out for others while some were already searching for their prey. The prey? Amui Shizumiya.

"Maybe I need to give her more of those?" Hitsugaya mumbled as he eyed the hair clip he gave Amui. That little hair accessory was actually a device created to monitor spiritual levels and limit the user's spiritual pressure by at least a quarter of its full power. It was perfect for Amui and she would definitely wear it.

"You should." Naori replied in her usual bored manner.

"You're in no shape to fight. Bring Shizumiya back to her home while I deal with these pests." Hitsugaya ordered as he entered into his shinigami form.

Asking no questions, Naori lifted up the human girl and quickly ran away from the area. Her feet flying through the air, Naori started to feel her gigai's lungs giving out on her. Cursing a bit on how cheap her gigai is, Naori managed to make it to Amui's house without any mishaps along the way. Quietly, Naori transformed into her limited shinigami form and literally dropped Amui into her bed. Naori stared at the sleeping girl with her mind switching back and forth on whether to assist her captain or continue protecting a girl she grew irritant of.

At last, she resolved that there was no point in joining the fight. The damn limiter, that she was wearing, restricted her power so much that she felt like she was ready to faint when those little hollows arrived. Even standing next to the spiritual pressure over-filled human was already too much!

Naori quietly glanced back at the sleeping Amui, whose face was lit up by the afternoon sun. "I wonder what Hitsugaya-taicho sees in a girl like you. Your actions and your manners are the exact type that can piss of my captain or anybody else for that matter. Is it your looks? You have longer hair than me that is straight and silky. Most likely it's your personality. Hitsugaya-taicho liked Hinamori-san's personality the best. I'm the exact opposite." Naori sighed and quietly began to exit the room out from the window. "If I asked you the question: Do you like him? You'd probably say yes."

"What if I asked you…?" Naori jumped once she heard the same question rebound back. She quickly glanced back…only to see nothing and hear Amui mumble even more in her sleep. "You like apple juice or orange juice more?"

False alarm. Naori sighed in her relief as she quietly exited the room. She gracefully landed on the stony pavement and glanced to her side, gazing at her gigai slumped against the wall. Her power was already cut down while wearing the limiter and the gigai made it even worse. Though she's been keeping her mouth shut, wearing both hurt so much. Naori silently and quickly entered that gigai, clenching her teeth as her remaining power was sucked away. Just as suddenly, she felt another rise in spiritual pressure and at that moment, she couldn't take it anymore and weakly slumped herself against the wall.

"You brought her safely back?" Hitsugaya asked as he landed beside her. "Naori! Are you okay?"

"Hitsugaya-taicho…your spiritual pressure…" Naori managed to say out loud.

She watched as he realized what the problem was and lowered it enough for her to finally breathe and stand up on her feet.

"This is why you should be resting, so you can stabilize your spiritual pressure." Hitsugaya cautiously told her.

"I'm fine." A short reply came back at him. "Can you get back into your gigai before I collapse again?"

Hitsugaya nodded and disappeared, leaving Naori to slowly get up on her feet again. She sighed and dusted off the dirt and tiny pebbles from her pants.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked when he returned, back into his gigai and smoothly walking over to her.

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine." Naori justified herself.

Hitsugaya eyed her suspiciously and she merely shot a deadpanned gaze back. He sighed, finally caving in since he knew that she was not going to sit still and she was also a very stubborn person.

"Fine then. Since you're in perfect shape, you're going to assist me in surveying the area." He ordered and dragged her while holding her arm.

"This quick!" Naori yelped.

"What's the matter? You said you were fine." He simply replied back.

"I didn't mean that I was fine enough to get back on duty!"

"I know you're just trying to slack off from the job."

"Hitsugaya-taicho!" Naori exasperatedly exclaimed. She hated doing simple search duties like these. They always bore her to death, not doing anything and just checking around for hollows. And with the state she's in, she won't even be getting in on the action of hollow slaying! Boring!

But alas, she was now stuck sitting on a hillside while pressing random buttons to waste her time. Maybe she should have just slept in for the day.

"It's getting quiet now. It seems like hollows only act up if Shizumiya is concerned." Hitsugaya mumbled as he checked his trackers.

"If she's knocked out, can we not do this?" Naori complained back.

"No."

"Still stuffy as ever." Naori angrily mumbled under her breath and turned away.

"Your animosity increases ever so slightly." He smartly replied back.

Well I can't help it if you're always like this!" Naori tried to calmly reply back. These calm exchanges of fury were a regular basis, though she would sometimes lose it in the end.

"I'm like this to everyone. Though it'd be better if you wouldn't overreact all the time." He said those words without even looking at her.

"What?" Naori blinked, clueless.

"It'd make things easier for me…" He glanced at her. "If you could act like the girl of when I first met you. You were annoying as hell, but you looked…kind of…cute."

That last part was unfortunately inaudible to Naori's ears. He had to say it in a near whisper. But it seemed like Naori got the idea.

A patch of red blush rose to her cheeks. She was gaping at him with her eyes wide. When Hitsugaya noticed she was looking at him, Naori quickly turned away. She shook her head around, getting her bangs and hair in her face as an attempt to hide that blush.

Why was she in shock just then? Was it because of those uncharacteristic words coming from her captain's was scarring her for life? Or was she flattered? Is it her imagination or something?

"Are you okay? Your face is turning red. I guess it means you have to go back in bed." Hitsugaya placed a hand on her forehead that was once ducked down.

"No I'm fine!" Naori quickly swatted his hand away.

"I doubt you're still okay. But if you insist…" Hitsugaya stood up. "Let's leave this place and search for other hot spots."

"Hey…Hitsu-kun…" Naori quietly said, causing him to stop.

"What did you just call me? Aren't I your captain?" He asked raising a brow.

"I just called you by your nicknames like before." Naori replied, the pink shade still on her cheeks. "D-Didn't you say I look a little cute that time?"

"I said you were 'bearable'. I don't know where you got 'cute' from…"

Awkward silence…

Naori stared at him with her unusual blank expression. Her face started heating up more and turned even more red, this time from embarrassment.

"You're turning red again. Are you really still okay?" He reached out for her forehead again only to have it furiously slapped away. Hard.

"I'm fine." She said in a clipped voice. "I'm going back into town now. See you Hitsu-kun!"

"It's Hitsugaya-taicho!"

_

* * *

_

Review! And thus, the hate on Amui continues. Thus all this "emotions" and "feelings" stuff is out of the way, commencing the final plot now!


	31. Upgrade

_I'm still here! I took some time out of my winter vacation and finally wrote this chapter. And when I meant the final arc of this story, I meant I'm raising the stakes a bit more. You'll soon find out as you read on. Thank you for your patience!_

**

* * *

Upgrade**

Amui just stood there, on her high school roof, staring out into the empty streets of her town. Her legs and arms were starting to quiver and eventually shaking, rattling the fence she stood against on. It was obvious that she was scared of what she was doing and what was going to happen. But if she wanted to finally put her worries to rest, she had to do this.

While Amui was resting from her shock, she thought about it for a long time. She had done nothing wrong, but that girl continued to hate her, despise her, and hurt her. Enough to finally land Amui into a hospital bed. What did she do that was so wrong? Was it for simply existing? Or was it that she got involved in the whole mess? Jealousy? Amui lamented over her thoughts over and over again, trying to figure out the answer.

In the end, she couldn't figure it out. But she decided that she was finally going to take a stand against all of this.

"You're making a crazy bet…" Amui muttered to herself as she continued her longing stare.

Out in the distance, she could feel Hitsugaya's spiritual pressure rise and fall for every couple of seconds. Silently, she playfully twirled her little glowing ball of energy around the palm of her hand. For a couple of days now, she managed to manifest her spiritual pressure into a physical form and put it to good use…a white flashlight. But it was still fun to play around with it.

"It's strange for you to ask someone like me to chat around." A definite voice of her visitor made Amui quickly disperse her ball.

She saw Naori walking up to her. With every step that girl took, the air around them became even more dense than ever.

"I-I wanted to talk to you…" Amui managed to stutter out.

Naori raised and eyebrow and shot a questioning look at her. "Alright then, talk. I'm listening."

Amui opened her mouth, but unfortunately, nothing came out. Naori just kept staring her down which Amui found intimidating a little.

Naori sighed. The human was still shocked…nothing's going to come out of this conversation. "You have nothing to say. I'm leaving." She announced.

"Wait!" Amui shouted, effectively stopping her.

"What? Spit it out!"

"I'm sick of you!" Amui suddenly screamed at her.

Naori blinked.

That did not come out right. Amui gaped at what she just said before recomposing herself again. She meant to say the same meaning except with nicer words and tone.

"Well-well! That did not come out right! I mean-what I meant to say-I think-Uh-I was saying…umm"

"You hate me?" Naori answered for her.

"Well 'hate' is a strong word…" Amui sighed. "What I meant to say is that I'm tired of this and I've had enough of your constant abuse."

"Really now?" Naori asked with interest. This human was actually attempting to make a stand? In her weakened state too? "Well I'd understand that-"

"No you don't!" Amui shot back. "You've always hated me ever since we met. You've put me through so much and I'm sick of it. What have I ever done to you? I'm not trying to be mean, but I've had it!"

"Who do you think you are?" Naori calmly asked with an indifferent gaze. "Human. Just be quiet and let me handle my job. If you can't take it, then go cry in the corner and lament on why you ever interfered with us and Ayumishi."

"What is your job? Why do I feel like you and Hitsugaya-kun are doing two completely different things?" Amui spoke back. "You despise me and he befriends me. You try to kill me and he protects me. What are you two trying to do to me?"

"Nothing someone like you needs to know." Naori curtly replied.

"You're always so vague. Why can't you be like your captain? At least, he's more truthful and honest with me." Amui scoffed with an annoyed glance.

"You act like you are close with him already." Naori remarked.

"At least, Hitsugaya-kun and I understand each other. He's always been protecting me and supporting me through everything. He and I…We became friends…good friends!" Amui retorted back.

"Do you like him?" Naori dropped the question. She knew that there was no point in asking because she already knew the answer. There was no reason and no point, but she just had to make sure. She, herself, had no idea why she would be interested in such a personal question.

"Maybe I do." Amui bluntly answered with a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. "He's always been by my side, guarding me, and caring for me that I have come to like him. I love him for that alone."

Silence drifted between the two girls. Amui was staring Naori down with a determined gaze instead one of fear like before. On the other hand, Naori dropped her guise as she heard Amui's sudden confession. She wondered if Hitsugaya felt the same. She wondered if anything happened while she was gone that it escalated to this now. She wondered if she was the person who should hear the confession of her (self-given) enemy.

"Protecting you?" Naori questioned in her soft mutter and smirked afterwards. "Do you really want to know why he's like that to you?"

"Wha-What do you mean?" Amui stuttered, now back up in fear.

"The reason Hitsugaya-taicho's been protecting you-" Naori pronounced, walking right up to Amui and jutting her finger into her chest. "-is because of this right here. You have a huge amount of spiritual pressure that anything would die to get their hands on. You're basically a walking buffet for all hollows and our enemies."

"I have…" Amui repeated in awe, lightly touching her chest. So that's why she's been getting all these crazy new abilities.

"You are a top-priority for Soul Society. They don't want anyone to get your power or more importantly, you to use it recklessly. They couldn't trust all that power towards a mere human. They wanted all that power to be gone fast." Naori explained. "My captain could have done anything to handle you. He could have killed you and suck up all that spiritual pressure. He could have captured you and sent you to our 12th Division to get _examined_. He could have sent you right to Soul Society to be persecuted."

"Why didn't he?"

"Hitsugaya-taicho was more practical in his approach. He's not someone who recklessly kills people that are in his way." Naori explained. "In short, he did all this out of obligation. Feelings? What feelings? That is something you tricked yourself into thinking."

Amui gritted her teeth as she glared back. "You're wrong."

"I'm wrong?" Naori questioned. "

"Maybe Hitsugaya-kun was being practical. But that alone doesn't explain everything. Do you have any solid proof? No. You're just going to make assumptions." Amui strongly argued back.

"_Whatever you were asking…I have no intentions of that."_

Naori smirked at the thought as she casually leaned back on her foot. "What if I did?"

"How am I supposed to believe you? All you ever did was hate me. What if you're just doing everything to spite me?" Amui shot back.

Naori sighed in frustration. This conversation was now getting nowhere and too personal. She could see that this girl was driven purely by her own illusions and emotions. There may be some truth in those illusions, but she was stretching them out by a lot. Yet Naori saw things from a different perspective and thus, she had a different truth from Amui. It also may or may not be true.

"Whatever you say, but here is what I think. His support? It's all in your head. His caring nature? He is just acting out of duty. His protection? He's protecting the power inside of you and you're just weak." Naori said each phrase as if she was shooting daggers.

Each word and insult hit Amui like one brick after another. She was weak? Yes, compared to them because they were shinigami, but what about this power inside of her? She was not going to stand against this belittlement and harassment. But she could see through Naori's eyes. She could see rage and fury in those golden eyes.

"You're jealous! Aren't you?" Amui concluded.

"What?"

"You're jealous that I came between you and Hitsugaya-kun. I know that the both of you had some kind of a relationship in the past. Everything you're doing now…all of your hate…is because you're jealous of me." Amui firmly said.

"Jealousy?" Naori questioned. "What relationship? The only thing that connects him to me is that he is my captain and I am his subordinate. Again, what you're thinking now is all in your head."

Amui's face turned red as her anger flared up as well. "Fine! Everything is in my head. But that's not going to stop me from liking him. Everything may be false, but my feelings are not! No matter what you do, you can't stop me!"

"Fine! Let your personal issues get in the way of my job! I'm just telling you that everything you are thinking may not be true. And for the record, there is absolutely nothing between Hitsugaya-taicho and I!" Naori spat back as she spun her heel and vanished.

Amui glared at the empty spot that Naori once stood in. In that short conversation between them, that same girl who hurt her had insulted her. This was exactly why she wanted to finally stand up to her. She couldn't take this cycle of hatred anymore. Her eyes lit up in fury as she felt her hands suddenly get warm.

"Hibana!" Amui shouted and punched the fence next to her. Only she actually was standing a bit far from the fence and thus she was punching air. But she felt something leave her hand and connected with the thin wires of the fence. Amui quickly turned to her side and gasped in astonishment. Her hands flew up to her mouth as she gaped at the result of her fury.

That fence in front of her now had a huge, sizzling hole cutting right through each little branch of the wire. She had no idea how it got there, but she was definitely sure it wasn't there a few seconds ago. Did it come from her hands? Did she cause this? How was this possible?

Amui glanced back into her hands again. Maybe it had something to do with her usual tricks with her spiritual pressure. Was it a new ability? She twirled her hand around and made her usual glowing white ball. She remembered it leaving her hand to the fence, but how would she make it leave. After scratching her brain for the answer, she eventually just went for the most obvious one. She threw the ball towards spare wiring and surprisingly, it left her hand and flew towards the fence. It suddenly compacted into the size of a ping-pong ball and it merely floated there.

"That did not work…" Amui sighed.

Suddenly, in a flash and a bang, that small ball of spiritual pressure expanded and exploded. It decimated everything within its sphere and left no traces of the fence wires that were previously there. Amui stared in shock at her new explosion and she diverted that shocked stare into her hands. Can she do anything more with this?

"Maybe I'm not so weak." Amui chuckled to herself.

* * *

"Fifth Seat Naori Hibana reporting. Hollows situated around the school and park area at a radius of one kilometer." Naori spoke into her phone as she quickly flew her way towards the trouble.

"I'm already on school grounds. You handle the park." Hitsugaya ordered.

"Roger." Naori quickly hung up, averted her direction, and started speeding towards her new location.

Hitsugaya stood on the school roof, quietly scouting for any hollows that may appear. Now, he didn't really know why hollows were suddenly acting up. He was checking on Amui the whole time and it was clear that her spiritual pressure was under control. It did not go haywire at all she was wearing his limiter device. What was it that caused a huge spiritual increase and caused hollows to show up out of nowhere?

He spotted a hollow and quickly leaped towards it to slay the monster in one slash. Yet, once he was airborne, something from the corner of his eye caught his attention. He glanced down and noticed a girl with long chestnut hair walking calmly away from the school. Maybe, for one second, she slipped out of his sight and caused this? This would perfectly explain everything. But he had evidence to reject such a hypothesis. But Amui walking away from school grounds raised his suspicions.

'_I'll deal with you later.'_ He concluded and focused his attentions back on the impending hollows.

Amui ignored his presence from above as she continued her walk out of school. That small release of spiritual pressure was enough to draw out enough hollows to keep Hitsugaya busy. She noticed that he had been keeping an extra eye on her, not that she minded or anything, but some free time alone would be nice. A good call out of class made it easier for her to get off grounds.

As Amui walked around the plaza near the park, she saw a young boy run past her. It was a small boy, probably at her hip, and he had blond hair and wore a t-shirt and shorts. What stood out about this particular boy was that he was running in fear and there was a chain hanging from his chest. Amui quickly stepped by the boy's side and she recognized why that boy was running. Standing right in front of her was a grotesque hollow that was drooling in hunger.

"Don't worry. I got you." Amui gently said, trying to calm down the crying boy.

The hollow loudly roared and began to charge at the both of them.

Amui narrowed her eyes at the creature and prepared a wind up. "Take this!" She yelled and flung her ball of raw spiritual pressure at the hollow.

It missed.

The hollow continued its rampage charge as Amui sighed at her miss. She was still learning so that really off throw was reasonable. She charged up another ball in her hands and she concentrated on her aim right at the hollows body. She wound up again and threw her little bomb at it.

It flew straight into the hollow's mouth. It swallowed that sphere entirely and left no traces. Amui smiled in victory because she knew from that point on, she had already won. The hollow suddenly stopped in its tracks and its eyes suddenly bulged out. The white sphere expanded from its stomach and enveloped the hollow entirely. It roared and screamed in fear, thrashing around to release itself, but that was also useless. Very soon, the hollow had been decimated to nothing.

"You're safe now. Why don't you go find a shinigami? They will help you." Amui softly said and let the boy go.

"Thank you Onee-san." The young boy said and quickly ran off.

The little boy turned the corner of the block. His head suddenly slammed into something within the shadows. He rubbed his head and glanced up, fear overtaking his eyes as he tried to run away back to Amui.

"Don't be scared. I'm a shinigami." Hitsugaya said, holding the boy back until he calmed down. "Now tell me everything that just happened."

Amui still stood in her place, staring at the palm of her hands, marveling at what she had just done. She probably watched a couple times of Hitsugaya and Naori fighting with hollows, but she never imagined that she would be fighting one herself. Just the idea of the capabilities of her powers was sending shivers down her body. She still could feel a bit of spiritual pressure floating around her hands and she felt that she could almost manipulate its shape into something more. That's how she managed to warp it into a sphere.

Maybe she should find more hollows, those that were lured out, and test her powers a bit more…

"Shizumiya!"

That one voice stopped Amui from thinking any longer. She slowly turned towards the direction of the voice she heard, facing Hitsugaya only a couple feet away. Their eyes met simultaneously, one with suspicion and the other with slight worry.

"What was that?" Hitsugaya asked in awe. He knew that it was possible for the entity to use the spiritual pressure it was given, but he didn't expect it to be this fast.

"Hey Hitsugaya-kun…" Amui softly said as she raised her hand, letting another sphere of spiritual energy form. "Look what I can do…"

"Shizumiya…"

There was a park near the both of them and it was only a couple streets down. Though only few people were in it because at that time of day, kids would be in school and adults would be at work. Only the elderly and maybe some infants, taken out by their mothers, would be hanging around.

There was one person who was lying down on the grass with her head turned upwards to face the sky. If people would cast their glances at her, they would assume that she was a mere park visitor that was relaxing and admiring the clouds. For one thing, they wouldn't be able to see her and for another, she wasn't even taking notice of the sky.

Naori gritted her teeth as she tried again to move her body. But another flash of pain shot through her and she relaxed again, knowing that any movement would cause only pain. Her shinigami robes were slightly soiled from dirt and dust and so was part of her face. Naori tried again to move any part of her body, be it legs, arms, or even her head, but nothing worked. It still hurts. Her zanpakuto laid by her outstretched arm, also slightly soiled.

Naori had no idea how she even got in this state. She knew though that she was flying in the air to reach her destination and then a small sphere came flying at her. For a moment, she was puzzled and intrigued, but her sense of spiritual pressure told her to quickly distance herself away from it. Unfortunately, she had listened too late as she suddenly rebounded away from the small sphere. She only managed to get as far so that when it exploded, it could only slightly scratched her. And this was what happened to her.

Naori groaned again as she tried moving her arm, only to have it collapse in heap. This was not going to work and she knew it.

"But still…what was that?" She mumbled.

_

* * *

Amui steps up to bat! She got some powers to defend herself now and she's the first to declare something in the OC triangle. How's Naori going to react? What's Hitsugaya going to do now that the mission just got a bit more complicated? Speculations anybody?_

_Read, react, review! Thank you so much!_


	32. Refusal

_Hey guys! I'm starting to have motivation to write during school weeks instead of vacation time. That means I won't only update on vacations. Yay! Good fanfiction writing always helps ease the stress during school. But vacation is coming in two weeks…so maybe a double update this month? Anyways…during this time, I've been coming up with good plots and stories to write out. It's going to be either another AU or a crossover. I might have to put my other AU fic on hiatus since I'm kind of had writer's block on that story… But I'm almost near finished with this one. Only a couple more chapters left!_

_Anyways. On with the story! Recap of what happens so far: two shinigami go to earth, meet a girl, girl gets powers, mishaps happen, one shinigami goes crazy and creates more drama, crazy shinigami comes back, girl falls in love with boy shinigami and confesses feelings to girl shinigami, girl and girl shinigami are sworn enemies, girl and girl shinigami sit down and have a nice chat over tea… WHAT?_

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* * *

Refusal**

"Ah! This is so heavy!" Amui complained a couple more times and heaved her load up the stairs. She felt her back slightly aching and had a feeling that her legs were going to give out any second. A couple of more heaves and a series of grunts later, she finally got her stuff scattered on the bed. Her stuff? There were loads and loads of books. They were random subjects like meditating, breathing exercises, learning to control ki, and taking care of fishes. Random and useful books.

Amui sighed and collapse into her bed of books. She was grinning at the prospect of finally controlling her power and maybe rising up to the levels of Hitsugaya and Naori. But still, she was worried of how Naori may react...nah! If that crazy girl attacks again, she'll be ready!

Gleefully, Amui reached out for the first book she saw. She better get started now!

Minutes later...

Amui felt that one of her eyes was starting to droop as she kept trying to read. This was boring! She already read about five pages of how to inhale and exhale, three pages of how to concentrate while your eyes are closed, and a page about different breeds of fishes. Boring stuff basically… It was a wonder that she managed to get through so much and not fall asleep already.

"This is not working." Amui can already deduce. "Maybe I need to be practical about this. Straight up, hands-on training!"

She threw her current book away and jumped out of bed. Concentrating on her hand, she made one of her usual "spirit bombs" as she liked to call them with ease.

"Let's see...I want it to be a weapon..." Amui mumbled to herself, trying to figure out a solution. She wanted something to hold and contain itself so she wouldn't be just throwing things all the time.

She tried stretching it, but that didn't work. She tried forcing it to be narrow and it turned into a rod. She wanted something cool like a sword that Hitsugaya and Naori always carry around.

Finally, she got the energy thing to have a nice sharp edge. The problem? It was not even close to a sword and it mysteriously wrapped around her arm to become her weapon. Amui tested it out on some paper or stacks of paper and found that it still cuts nicely. She managed to cut the pages cleanly in half.

She sighed, "Oh well...it'll have to do for now." She'll just figure out how to make it into a usable weapon later on when she feels like it.

Suddenly, she felt a slight vibration in her pocket and a loud, beeping noise blaring right out of her phone. Groaning in annoyance that her self-training was interrupted, Amui quickly dispersed her glowing manipulation of spiritual power and flipped open her phone. Surprised at who was calling, Amui quickly pressed the answer button and steadily spoke, "Hitsugaya-kun! What is it?"

She heard him spoke back clearly a few seconds later. "I was wondering if you had any free time today?"

"Free time huh?" She glanced at her messed up bed of books and her stack of papers all sliced up. "Of course, I have some free time! Do you want to talk or something?"

"Great. Then, let's meet up later at the usual spot."

"Okay!" She waited for him to hang up before she cleaned up her room and got out a change of clothes. She can totally put off her little training session. A little break now and then never really hurts.

Meanwhile, Hitsugaya stared at his phone screen and scrolled down his contacts. He wasn't sure this was going to work well, but apparently Matsumoto recommended him to take this action. It seemed practical and it looked like it works, but the idea of putting two enemies in the same room didn't sit well with him. But the way that things were looking between Amui and Naori didn't look so well. He needed some sort of reconcilement from those two for everything to work out. Plus, Naori needs to learn to stop being so hostile whenever she's on a mission.

"Hitsugaya-taicho? You called?"

* * *

Amui quickly rushed towards the usual spot, the café that just sat near the edge of the park. She repeatedly checked the time on her watch and fixed her clipped up hair. The thought of her and Hitsugaya was making her blush bright red. Until now, she never had a nice chat with Hitsugaya recently. Except for that last time that they talked, but he was interrogating her about her powers. So that moment didn't count.

She scanned around the sitting area and inside of the shop, but she couldn't catch the white hair that usually stuck out in crowds. Puzzled, Amui turned back to see if he was walking over or something, yet she saw something else instead…

She gazed into those amber eyes that stared right back. "You? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same thing." Naori replied, equally puzzled, yet she had a slight hint of where this was coming from.

"Hitsugaya-kun asked me to come here." Amui definitely answered.

Naori observed at Amui's clothing and could tell that she was excited or ecstatic, seeing how unnecessarily dolled up she was. What does she think this is? A date? And then there was her, wearing a t-shirt and pants. She merely thought it was some meeting, though it puzzled her for a second for why they didn't just discuss this on the phone. Now she knew.

Naori sighed and turned back, "This is just a ruse. I don't know what my captain is thinking and I don't even want to know. Good bye-Oooph!" She felt like her face had slammed into an invisible wall.

"Hibana-san!" Amui exclaimed.

"Ow…" Rubbing her nose and glaring at the empty space, Naori stood up and placed her hand on it. She felt a barrier of course and it was one that was meant to keep people in. Analyzing the spiritual pressure, she was sure that this was her captain's doing. What is he planning?

"We're trapped."

"What?" She exclaimed again.

"We're trapped." Naori simply repeated. "There's a barrier placed up right now. You and I can't get out."

"What if…" Amui started, but she quickly clamped her mouth shut. Should she tell this girl about her newfound abilities? After all, Hitsugaya told her all about the dangers that she may encounter because she was able to control her power.

Naori sighed. "It's no use. This is a high level kido that a captain set it up to keep us in. With my kido capabilities, even I wouldn't be able to break through. So I doubt your little playground balls of spiritual pressure can have much of an effect." She glanced over at the now surprised Amui. "You think I wouldn't be able to figure it out after you nearly knocked me out with one of those? All I had to do was trace the spiritual pressure." She snorted and crossed her arms, particularly not amused. "Besides, those are things even people with the slightest tap into their spiritual pressure can do and manipulate. I was able to do them when I was a little kid."

Amui opened and closed her mouth for a couple of seconds. She was still shocked at the capabilities of this girl. She had thought that Naori was the type who fought out of instinct like Hitsugaya had described her. After a while, she was able to speak, "So how are we going to get out?"

"We don't."

"What? What do you mean by that?"

Naori rolled her eyes and explained, "We sit here and wait until he decides to let up the barrier or until the barrier lets out by itself."

"What if it doesn't?"

"It doesn't. There's nothing we can do."

"Great. Just great!" Amui groaned and plopped down on a chair.

Naori smirked as she sat down across from her. "And here you look so excited because he called you. You even got all dressed up."

She couldn't tell if that was meant to mock her or it was an innocent comment. It felt more like mockery though. "You already know why because I told you already. And I usually dress like this compared to you."

Naori frowned at the comment. Okay, maybe she was the plainest dresser ever; she'll admit that at the very least. Was she going to let it slide? No. "It's nothing peculiar about that. You're just very attached to my captain." She calmly remarked.

"Same to you." Amui smartly replied. "Even if you won't acknowledge it, it's very obvious to see."

Naori glared at her, "I already told you. There's nothing between us. He is only my captain."

"Suit yourself." Amui shrugged. "I'm just letting you know. The two of you are a lot closer than you may think. Sure, you've only been working with him for a couple of years and he is your superior and everything. He's probably more experienced too..."

"Decades." Naori corrected. "And for your information, I've been in the Gotei 13 longer than Hitsugaya-taicho. The first time I ever met him was when he was still in the Academy."

Amui lifted one of her eyebrows in amusement and grinned. "Really now! I guess you're not so inexperienced as Hitsugaya-kun said."

Naori scoffed, "That was only because I was recruited into the Fourth Division first. They learned how much I've mastered so far in my healing kido that I was brought directly into that division."

"Do tell." Amui nodded, now fully listening to Naori's story.

"What-Why am I telling you this?" Naori exclaimed with a slight hint of red rising to her face.

"Come on! I already confessed about your captain a couple of days ago. It's time you return the favor. It's not like you like him or anything." Amui cheekily replied. For some reason, she liked making Naori so uncharacteristically flustered and embarrassed. Maybe it was because it brought out a whole other side of her personality.

"Ugh! Fine", Naori said in exasperation, now knowing another reason to think Amui is getting on her nerves. She slowly leaned back and tried to remember those fuzzy parts of her memory.

"I remembered up to when my first captain saw me trying to heal one of my friends who was caught up in a fight. I was only a little girl when she took my under her wing and started training me in the art of healing kido. She was pretty surprised about how much I've already learned. A bunch of training happens and I make a couple of friends with the healers there. Then one day, my captain was sent to inspect the Academy and she decided to take me along since she wanted me to experience life as a student. Then, some people made up some crazy idea for me to dress up as an actual student so I got stuffed into one of the smallest uniforms and sent right to the Academy."

"You didn't get caught or anything?" Amui asked.

"No, not really." Naori said, shaking her head. "I heard a lot of gossip about the arrival of a captain and her powerful subordinates. I almost died laughing at them. Basically, I wandered around the school until my captain arrived. Then, as I was walking around, I met Hitsugaya-taicho in the hallways doing…I forget. So I met him and I forget what happens next. I remember my captain coming to get me…some stuff happens…and I watched his mouth drop when he learns I'm a member of the Fourth Division. I leave with my captain and go back home. The end."

"Such an abridged version." Amui scoffed.

"This was years ago. I barely even remember it myself." Naori retorted back.

"But still, what a plain meeting. I mean it's not as flashy or action-packed like mine where I had to save a bimbo's ass. I guess the plain concept works just well for you, Hibana-san." Amui cheekily said those last words with a slight smile. She was oddly feeling a bit more comfortable as they talked.

Naori simply frowned and said no words, but she suddenly felt something lift up from her presence. The hand that was lying on her lap felt around behind her, trying to see if anything was there. There was nothing, absolutely nothing with only air. Naori felt a slight thrill and joy come up from her soul as she suddenly stood up from her seat.

"What's the matter, Hibana-san?"

"The barrier's gone. I guess he finally decided to let us out." Naori explained and began to walk away.

"Wait Hibana-san!" Amui called out.

"Hm?" Naori turned back around; waiting to see what Amui had stored up to insult her. She already heard foul, plain, and crazy.

"You know, you're actually a pretty nice girl. That was a good chat we had back there." Amui admitted. "You know, if you weren't so obsessed over your mission, we could have gotten to be friends. You and I could have become friends just like Hitsugaya-kun and I did."

"You wish." A curt answer shot back at her.

"Eh?" Amui froze there, rejected, and Naori walked away with no acknowledgments whatsoever.

Amui sighed as her only offer of kindness was cruelly rejected. But she couldn't do anything about it, Naori was the person who was not willing to change and will stay stubborn to the very end. But at least she tried.

* * *

Hitsugaya fiddled around with the rest of the numbers on his phone as he typed out the report. He wondered if this was a good time to finally release that barrier. He only gave the barrier about a half an hour for it to stand up. Was it enough?

Finally, his answered showed up right in front of his eyes. "Hitsugaya-taicho! What was that about?" An irked Naori asked.

Judging on her sour tone and mood, he was beginning to think this was actually not a good idea. Damn Matsumoto! Damn her crazy ideas! Hitsugaya sighed and got up from his seat, "I wanted to see how you and Shizumiya were getting along. Not that well I see."

"Well…it's not as hostile as before." Naori admitted but snapped back from that peaceful memory. "But what was the point of that?"

"I wanted to check up on you, Naori, so I can see if you won't go batshit insane for what's to come next." He admitted, "New readings came in from the trackers I've placed on Shizumiya. She's at her peak already. She knows how to make basic weapons straight out of her spiritual pressure. With her massive spiritual pressure amount, it won't be long until her weapons rival our zanpakutos. On the plus side, her spiritual levels are gradually decreasing and with her constant use of her spiritual pressure, it won't be very long until Shizumiya hits zero and turns back into a normal human."

"Define 'very long'" Naori asked, eying him suspiciously.

"About a couple of years maximum", he simply answered.

"So…that girl…is getting more powerful?" Naori dazedly asked, feeling the intense wave of information she just got. Amui was getting even more powerful and she was going to stay powerful for a couple of years. Would they have to be on this mission for years as well?

Hitsugaya shook his head; "No…she's getting more skillful with her manipulation of spiritual pressure. This makes her more powerful in a way, but she becomes more dangerous and a threat."

"What do you suppose we do?" Naori steadily asked.

"I have a plan with no killing or slaughtering involved. You might not like it, but your cooperation is needed." He said and walked towards Naori, holding out his hand for an agreement. "Are you going to help me?"

Silence was held between the two shinigami while Naori backed away from her captain, her eyes filled with worry and fright. She tried not to let these feelings show and she did managed to suppress them, but her captain already caught on.

"No."

"Fifth Seat Naori Hibana! What do you mean by this?" Hitsugaya demanded.

"I'm not going to help you." Naori replied her definite answer.

"Is it because of your status of this mission? I already got permission from Soul Society." Hitsugaya explained until he remembered the last time. "Or is it because of your mental health?"

Naori shook her head. "It's not that…and…I'm perfectly fine right now."

Hitsugaya suspiciously eyed the girl, trying to pinpoint the correct answer. But the blank face she held and her hidden eyes prevented him from guessing any further. She was nearly unreadable. She was keeping a secret.

"Why are you really here?"

_

* * *

If you read the recap…this was what basically happens. It was nothing really special except for that last part. A nice little filler in between before the real things kicks in next chapter. It presents a very nice what if situation like…what if Naori and Amui actually became friends even though we both know that can never happen given the certain circumstance._

_Review! Thank you!_


	33. Face Off

_Break time! More fanfiction writing! Yay! So, I got some time off to write. I need to do homework of course…but that can wait till later! This story is wrapping up soon now. I already planned it all out! After this chapter…there will probably be three more afterwards. After that…end! So enjoy this chapter and the three more afterwards!_

**

* * *

Face-Off**

"Why are you really here?"

Naori tilted her head to the side. "Would you believe me?"

Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes at her, hands clenched and teeth gritted. This type of behavior was getting more suspicious. "Believe what?" He demanded.

Naori lifted her once hidden head to stare back at him, her eyes noticeably turning a dull golden color. She walked towards him in a teetering wobble as he tried backing away. "Would you believe me?" She repeated again. "If I was ordered to kill her?"

Silence was held between the two.

Hitsugaya could feel his sweat rolling down the side of his forehead. He could definitely feel it! She was going to lose it! He had to do something. Anything! Anything that would keep her calm.

"Hibana!"

Suddenly, as if an angel had answered his pleas, Naori quickly stopped in her tracks and gripped onto her head. She let out a violent cough with a noticeable shudder running through her body. Her feet were stepping a couple feet back. She was bending down, with her head facing the concrete street, her hands covering up her coughing mouth. He could see tiny drops of water, or saliva, forming at the tips of her toes and the concrete around her. Are those tears?

Was she coming back to her senses?

Naori paused for a while in her violent fit, enough to lift her head up to gaze up at Hitsugaya. Her eyes were shining brightly now with the usual glowing amber. He could definitely see the normalcy returning towards her and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Staggering in her steps, Naori slowly walked up towards her captain and placed the tips of her hand on his forehead. "Maybe if I show you, you would understand." She spoke in her normal voice.

A shock ran through his forehead once Naori released her power into him. He was familiar with this ability she had. She already used it once before. She discovered it a couple months ago. She discovered that she could transmit her memories out of her body just by manipulating the electricity in her body. Any information she was given was a hundred percent accurate. She was witnessing it of course. Everything she was going to reveal was seen through her eyes. But, what information did she have to give him now?

"_Enter Tenth Division Fifth Seat Naori Hibana." He could see the old Captain Commander coming closer into view. She must be walking up to him on his command._

"_What is it?" The light voice of Naori replied._

_"This is about your reinstatement into the World of the Living. You are only there to keep watch. Don't interfere with the mission on hand." Old Captain Yamamoto stated. "Unless…"_

"_Yes sir?"_

"_Unless this being becomes a clear and prominent danger, eliminate it completely!"_

Naori quickly withdrew her hand before Hitsugaya could even react. His eyes lit up in shock once her fingertips flew wildly to direct at him. "Carriage of Thunder. Bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six!" She screamed in a ramble, "Bakudō 61: Rikujōkōrō!"

Six thin, wide beams of golden light rose out and slammed right into Hitsugaya's mid section. His spiritual pressure got cut off completely and he couldn't move at all! He staggered a couple of steps back from the force and momentum. He had to admit her kido was improving. But this was not good at all! He glared at her, "You know these will become useless against me."

Naori spoke back clearly, "I know…but they're effective for the time being." And with that, she vanished.

Hitsugaya could only grit his teeth at his predicament, "Damn it!"

* * *

She was taking a simple walk to home, a simple shortcut through the local Miyuba Park. The park was a nice place to walk through during the late afternoon. The sun was setting down and it illuminated the park with a nice warm color. Everything was peaceful. Serene. She was glad she lived near a park like this. It was the best place to simply relax.

She didn't expect for a black robed girl to be stopping her in her path. She didn't expect for that girl, someone she bonded with just an hour ago, was drawing out her sword right in front of her. Amui's eyes widened in distinct fear as she cautiously backed away from Naori. Though the shinigami girl was speeding up in approaching the poor human girl.

"Hibana-san," Amui stammered, "What's this about?"

"Limit Release." She heard Naori's calm voice speak and felt a sudden rise in spiritual pressure. Was that coming from the shinigami? But she felt completely fine a minute ago!

Rushing adrenaline pierced through her body. Naori dashed towards the human, her sword raised up high and her eyes glowing in determination. The same amount of adrenaline was shooting through Amui as she quickly reacted, drawing up spiritual energy into her arm. A white, narrow shape formed around her arm, solidifying it enough to parry off Naori's sword. The two weapons clashed against each other, sparks flying out with each hit and a repulse that pushed the two girls apart.

They both lunged back at each other again, their weapons clashing against each other into a standoff. Amber eyes bore into chestnut eyes. Both were filled with driven determination and passion. Equal powers were canceled out and both girls were thrown back into the fields of the park.

Amui landed firmly on her feet as she faced the girl with her makeshift sword brandished firmly in front of her. Naori was in the same position, facing against Amui and slightly tilting her sword for the better strike.

"In the end, I knew this wasn't going to work out." Amui finally declared and formed her signature spiritual bombs. She threw one right at Naori, which the shinigami dodged with ease. What she dodged turned into a huge blinding ball that engulfed everything within its vicinity. Everything that the sphere covered was decimated in seconds.

Strangely, Naori showed no fear or emotion in her face to the event. Amui chucked a couple more at the shinigami. Naori simply dodged each and every one of them. She still looked unfazed to the point that Amui thought it was plain mockery.

Amui growled under her breath and formed a huge one with both of her hands. She let it grow larger than three times the size of a soccer ball. A large, shining sphere was floating in her hands right above her head just as she aimed it right at Naori. It engulfed everything from trees, bushes, or portable bathrooms. Everything was destroyed.

Amui let out quick sighs of air as her legs buckled down on her. She never used this much of her power before in one time! It was draining away every bit of her energy! She could relax now though, seeing that her enemy was now terminated.

A slight shift in wind brought a realization of shock and fear into Amui's eyes. The girl suddenly appeared right behind her as if she was teleporting her way around! How could she move so fast in so little time?

"If you want to play that way…" Naori slowly leaned over Amui's shoulder and whispered into her ear, "Do you want to know its name?"

Only a couple of yards away, there flew a frantic shinigami around the spiritual hot spot. His sword was out, present and activated, making his presence promptly icing everything in sight. He could only wonder if Amui was able to hold out long enough for him to get there. She was getting stronger and more adept with her spiritual abilities, but still…

Hitsugaya suddenly felt a clear, invisible wall push him back once he tried to enter the area. This was ridiculous! He only managed to overpower the kido that was holding him back and now he had to take down another one. Naori must have been extra cautious! She must have not wanted those mistakes to repeat again.

The young boy felt an alarming rise of spiritual pressure erupt from the field he was trying to get in. A large explosion of electricity shocked even the barrier that she placed to keep him out. That idiot. This was just the break he needed. He could only smirk at his subordinate's foolishness.

Beyond his sight, two girls were still fighting each other. One was forming spiritual bombs at the palm of her hands and the other was firmly holding her sword out. Both stared at each other with intensity, neither one wanting to break the gaze. Both were breathing heavily as if the little fight had taken all the energy out of them. Neither was moving. Neither wanted to make the first move.

It was only then that Naori finally raised her sword. "Strike! Denbaku-to!"

A large explosion blasted out of the tip of her katana and made a deafening crack in the sky. Her sword changed from a katana to a straight jian with a red tassel hanging from the handle. The hilt turned just as gold as her eyes and her sword shot another explosion of electricity right at Amui.

The human girl quickly dodged, but the electric currents surged through her body making her involuntarily shudder. She noticed that she managed to get away from the destruction, but not enough for the shockwaves of electricity to get her. Her body was not responding at all! She glared at Naori while she was lying helpless on the floor.

Naori slung her sword over her shoulder as she approached the girl on the floor. "Electrical explosions. My zanpakuto's specialty. There's a reason why my zanpakuto's name is Denbaku-to." She swung the tip of the sharp blade right in front of Amui, something that made the human girl flinch only slightly in fear. "No matter what you do, those spiritual bombs cannot compare.

The human girl let out a growl from her mouth as she cleanly swatted away the blade from her face. She staggered a couple of feet away. Spiritual particles were starting form again around her arm, forming a different kind of weapon. Swirls of pure spiritual pressure circled around her arm, becoming only a powerful, concentrated mass. She was not giving up this easily!

"I'm impressed," Naori nonchalantly remarked. "I'm impressed you managed to learn and master this much in only days. But it's still not enough…" A smirk formed on her lips and she held out her electricity-powered zanpakuto. "This fight here. This is the same as our little tennis match. You may have had days and weeks to train…but I've had decades."

A gasp of surprise could only escape from Amui's lips once their weapons struck each other. Blades were locked against each other once again. Naori pulled her sword out and clashed her sword at Amui again and again with Amui countering each and every strike.

Finally, after each time the blades clashed against each other, Amui found the opening she needed and raised her weapon at the shinigami. She slashed down at her. Naori's eyes widened while she quickly flash-stepped backwards to avoid the blade. Good thing that Amui only managed to cut the sleeve of her uniform and not much of her skin.

Naori glared at the rip on her sleeve before tearing it out completely. This was utterly pathetic! That human girl already managed to land a hit on her! Here, a shinigami with decades of training couldn't even get that girl's hair messed up in a sword fight!

Amui confidently charged at the shinigami, weapons full raised at her side. She greatly smirked at her upper hand. She might actually win this thing!

"Tch," Naori mumbled under her breath and flash-stepped away from the naïve girl, appearing right behind her. "You're finished." A dull response spoke out of her lips as she raised her sword.

Alarmed, Amui quickly dodged her oncoming strike, but she clumsily stumbled in her steps. The chestnut-haired girl landed right into the floor of the open field only a couple of meters away from her killer. This was not good!

This was it! Her final attack that would end everything!

Naori pointed her sword at Amui, firing up an electric current that would do the ultimate damage. She was definitely going to finish this in one single blow. A bright yellow flash shot out of the tip of her sword and it was traveling right towards the heart of Amui.

Amui closed her eyes, waiting for the attack to impact her. She waited for the pain, the screams, the cries, and the darkness. She knew it. She was going to die right here, right now.

But it never came…

Seconds passed, she opened her eyes again…only to witness the dreaded sight in front of her.

She watched as Naori face fell and her golden eyes grew wider and wider at each passing second. Her sword fell completely out of her hands. Her body was visibly shaking in fear and shock. Amui could hear her breath getting less and less steadier. She cupped her hands at her mouth in pure shock, trying to not cry or scream.

The reason that caused Naori, the coldest shinigami ever, to be cowering in shock was in front of her.

Amui saw a sweeping white cloak in front of her also with the same dark uniform that Naori was wearing. She could feel warm splatters of blood dot her cheeks. His turquoise eyes were now beads that were shaking in pain. Blood streamed out of the corners of his mouth, the red liquid dripping onto Amui's pristine face and hair. His hands clutched his chest and he fell to his knees, his eyes now turning a dull color.

Tears were forming at Amui's eyes as the fallen shinigami, her never expressed crush, laid in front of her feet.

"HITSUGAYA-KUN!"

_

* * *

Hehehe…I'm an evil bastard. Prepare for a second breakdown of our two lady leads. Yes…I actually made him save Amui even though she was a second away from death. Close call eh?_

_Review!_


	34. Divine Punishment

_Prepare for a lot of tears this chapter. Not that you, my readers, would be crying cause this is a happy, happy ending…to some of you. Only two chapters are left. What is going to happen now at this point?_

_Well, read this chapter, maybe cry a few tears, and review!_

**

* * *

Divine Punishment**

Amui dropped to her knees, visibly just as shaken and shocked as Naori. Her dainty fingers reached out for Hitsugaya's pale face, wanting to touch him but too scared to touch him as well. She was too afraid…too afraid to find out if his life ended. Through his eyes she couldn't tell whether there was any life in him or not. Tears welled up in her dark brown eyes. A small whimper escaped from her lips.

"H-Hitsugaya-k-kun…" Amui sobbed, kneeling before his fallen body. "P-Please…please be okay…" Her hand brushed along the front locks of his hair and her eyes widened even further, knowing that her questions had been answered. A stream of tears traced the outer edges of her face before dropping down from her chin onto his frozen face. She didn't want this to happen! This can't be happening! She didn't want him to die…

"No…no…NO!" Amui cried as she collapsed on top of his body, sobbing into his chest.

Suddenly, as if the plug had been pulled, all of her spiritual pressure was leaking out like crazy. Amui could feel her skin crawling up her spin, but she didn't care. Naori could perfectly see everything. All of Amui's white spiritual pressure was rising up at an incredible height and destroyed her barrier completely. All of a sudden, dark portals appeared in the sky with several monsters popping out of each and every one. Hollows, big and small, wanted a bite in this spiritual buffet.

Alarmed, Naori wielded her sword in front of herself again, completely prepared to attack these hollows. But, something disturbed her from the corner of her eye when a human girl came barreling at her with another makeshift spiritual sword.

Amui angrily glared at her, her weapon crossing the shinigami's blade. "You killed him," she dangerously proclaimed. "How could you? This was all your fault!"

"Fool…" Naori coldly responded, with a slight crack, and pushed away the girl. "Instead of messing with me…why don't you deal with those hollows? Make a use of yourself. My captain is very strong and he would be the perfect dinner for them."

Amui growled and sent another bomb at the girl's way with Naori effortlessly dodging it. "I'll kill them first then you, only to protect Hitsugaya-kun. I don't want him to die."

She ran far from the shinigami pair. She knew the hollows were looking for her. She was the bait. She was their meal. But she could defend herself. Amui let the barrage of hollows come after her before brandishing her sword of spiritual pressure ready for an attack. She ran up to the first hollow that landed and slashed right down the mask. A spiritual bomb formed in her hands and blew up a bunch of hollows en masse off to the side. Charging blindly into the crowd of hollows, she slashed, struck, and killed any hollow standing in her way. All in the meanwhile, she preserved what was left of her spiritual energy. She'll need that to make one last job.

"I don't want him to die either…" She softly spoke back.

Naori grabbed on tightly to her sword and quickly ran up to her fallen captain. On the way, she quickly slashed through any other wandering hollows, not wanting any of them to even touch her captain. Once she reached Hitsugaya, her sword dropped out of her hands as she collapsed beside him. His shocked eyes were so frightening to her that she couldn't even bare to look at them. She reached out to his soft eyelids and gently closed them, choking back her tears.

"Hitsu-kun…you idiot…" She quietly said with her voice occasionally cracking at the syllables. In her despair, she repeated his old nickname in her head, not wanting it to disappear. Oh god! She sounded so vulnerable to him. That old nickname could only be used if she ever felt this way about him.

Naori felt her tears coming back to her eyes again. Her efforts were useless. She could be sobbing at this minute now. Tears dropped out of her drooping head and splashed onto his sleeping face. Her shaking hands reached for her captain and held onto his still body. His head rested against her chest as she caressed his body, not wanting to let him go.

"I-I-I didn't mean to…Hitsu-kun…" Her quivering lips made a slight whimper with her hands trying to wipe away those unnecessary tears.

This was not the time to be acting like a helpless maiden! She was an ex-officer from the Fourth Division! It was her attack. She knew where the damage could have been done and she knew how to correctly heal it. Only she knew how to bring him back!

Naori finally released Hitsugaya from her grasp and laid him out gently onto the grassy surface. She frantically rolled up the sleeve of her hakama and parted the neck of his uniform slightly, but enough to reveal his bare chest. She laid her head on top, trying desperately to hear even a faint beat. There was only a silence. Naori felt another tear form at the corner of her eye.

Beat…beat…

Her golden eyes widened at the slight noise. He was still alive! He was desperately holding on to life. That was all she needed! Any recognition that he was still holding on! There was still a chance that she could save him. A small chance…

Her frantic hands flew towards his bare chest, neatly resting on the cold skin. She concentrated all of her spiritual pressure into her hands. They both glowed a familiar bright green color. Naori felt her spiritual energy and his spiritual energy connect, both working together to heal the internal wound. She focused mostly on healing his heart, since that was where the most damage was, and then, she would work branching out from there.

Suddenly, her spiritual energy fluctuated unexpectedly on her, almost making her lose her concentration. _'Damn it! I'm almost out of spiritual energy! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!'_ she frantically thought, trying to keep the flow of her energy constant and steady. She must have wasted most of it setting up her kido traps and fighting around. Beads of sweat were rolling down her forehead as she tried her best to keep the flow constant. One bad mistake and she'll really lose her captain. Her uncertain hands shook as her spiritual energy took a dip again. At this rate, she won't be able to heal him! She couldn't save him! She didn't have enough power.

She was going to lose him...

"Hitsugaya-taicho," Naori quietly said with her voice cracking again. "I'm sorry…"

Her hands were still shaking and glowing bright green. Naori felt her head spinning and her breathing quickening as her energy was draining itself out. She was at her limit. She couldn't do anything about it. Tears started forming around the corners of her eyes again and a hiccup escaped from her lips. The bright green glow was starting to turn dull around her shaking hands. She pushed herself harder to exert more spiritual energy. She didn't want to lose him...

Naori felt a sudden rise in spiritual pressure. It was a deadly aura that surrounded her, deadly but powerful. She knew exactly who it was. And she needed her.

Amui raised her sword at the fallen shinigami and spoke, "Are you ready?"

Only a stammer came out of Naori's mouth, "Please..."

Silence…

"What?" Amui questioned. She only knew Naori as a cold and hard person. She had never seen such a person so vulnerable, so emotional.

"Please...help..." Naori softly begged, "I can't save him alone."

Amui only remained silent, shocked at what was happening in front of her. She couldn't believe it! It was all so confusing! She wanted to kick her ass for all the crap she ever got from Naori, but at the same time, she wanted to help the poor girl save Hitsugaya. She wanted to save him as well.

"Please!" Naori sobbed with her head down as she frantically tried to keep her shaking hands steady.

Ah! The hell with that revenge crap!

Amui quickly dropped onto her knees in front of the tearing shinigami girl. "I'll help you. Can you save him?"

Naori could only gasp under her breath. She couldn't believe it! After everything that she did to that human girl, Amui was still willing to help her! Naori gingerly nodded, shaking off her remaining tears. She gently pulled onto Amui's arms and placed both of her hands on top of her own. Both of their fingers touched, sending slight shivers down both of the girl's backs. They had never been this close because before, they're trying to kill each other.

She strictly told Amui, "Keep your hands on top of mine. Concentrate your spiritual energy into my hands."

"What will happen then?" Amui asked.

"I can heal him from there. But I need you to be constantly releasing your power." Naori further instructed.

Amui nodded and drew her focus back onto her hands. Her dark brown eyes shone with determination as all the spiritual energy in her body was pinpointed into the palms of her hands. Her fingers shook occasionally with a slight shudder from her palms. She wasn't really that controlled but it was the best that she could do.

The green around their hands grew brighter. Naori could feel Amui's spiritual energy flowing into her hands and she directed them right into the wounds. She could tell that Amui had trouble keeping the flow constant and she would've started scolding the human girl for it. But right now was not the time for that. She shook her head at the thought and concentrated all of her attention into her healing. Her eyes, once puffy from her crying, narrowed into slits while she bit her lips. Healing always came as a frustration to her since it required so much concentration.

Once in a while, Amui would glance up at Naori, silently amazed at her determination. She had always thought Naori was a pretty laid back person with a bad attitude, but now, she felt like she was seeing somebody completely different. Somebody who didn't want to lose something that was precious to them.

She still remembered when she asked Naori about her feelings…

_"There's nothing between us. He is only my captain."_

Just by looking deep into Naori's eyes, Amui could tell how much of a liar she was. She was always a liar. How long has she been with her captain again?

"_Decades."_

Amui wondered if Hitsugaya ever figured out Naori. She wondered if he ever witnessed this warm center behind her cold shell. Did Naori ever drop her guard in front of him? Just once? After all those years of decades spent with him, did she ever…?

Amui silently chuckled to herself, a chuckle that Naori couldn't even hear even though she was centimeters away. The reason? Here she was, a human girl who met a magical shinigami out of nowhere. In only a couple weeks notice, she had already fallen in love with him. Right in front of her was a shinigami girl who was possibly one of his closest friends ever. She had known him for many, many years. Maybe their differences were too great after all…maybe she could have never measured up to this great shinigami girl. Naori was stronger. She was more trained. She could be a bit prettier…not really. But she was closer to him…more than Amui could even imagine.

But she did catch up to Naori in time. She was pretty in a sense, not that Naori ever paid much attention to her looks, but she managed to pack a few surprises. She was able to make this shinigami feel unsure of herself for once. She was the breaking point for Naori. For that, she was satisfied.

Amui glanced up at Naori. She could see Naori's golden eyes still focused on her work, not breaking up the flow of energy and managing it to the best of her abilities. Her forehead was gathering up sweat with clumps of her dark blue hair clinging onto her sweaty forehead. She could feel it, that strong bond that Naori held for her captain. An unnoticeable sigh escaped from Amui's lips. Did she have the right to butt in between the both of them?

"How long…" Amui asked herself, making sure Naori couldn't hear. "After all these years with him, how long did it take you to realize it?" She could only make an educated guess…not yet.

Suddenly, she felt a weird pulsation running through her palm and into her back. A gasp of surprise escaped from Amui's lips as her spiritual energy flew out of whack again. She steadied herself to keep her spiritual energy under control. She didn't want to accidentally cause a mishap.

Naori's golden eyes widened and her mouth dropped slightly. A familiar rhythm was erupting from his chest and into her hands. It was a very faint beat. His heartbeat. She mumbled something under her breath, her hands pushing in further to quicken the healing process. She got him now…

Amui knew it too. She didn't need Naori to tell her at the spur of the moment. She could feel his heart beat pulsating through her hands. Her dark brown eyes glowed with determination. She pushed every bit of her spiritual energy into Naori's healing. She knew she had the power to heal him up…and she wasn't going to let him go…

The green aura glowed brighter around both the girls. It grew in light and in size, engulfing both of them into a bright green light. It must have been the sheer amount of spiritual energy coming from Amui. She must have saved so much for later. This field of green shone brighter and brighter, almost blinding both of the girls. All of a sudden, the glowing aura retreated. It gradually shrunk back from the sky, the trees, and the roads a couple of meters away. It shrunk back into the healing hands of Naori. The glowing green's shape changed a bit, shocking Naori a bit and making her panic for a second. But afterwards, she was relieved.

A groan managed to escape the near death captain. A twitch came back onto his eyes as his face twisted into his usual apathetic sleeping face.

But a sudden decrease in spiritual pressure notified otherwise. Amui felt an eerie blackness engulf her sight and she fell towards the grassy floor. Her hands were released of the traces of spiritual pressure. Her long chestnut hair flew everywhere once her head hit the ground. Her eyes were shimmering in tears before she closed them permanently. She could feel nothing inside of her anymore. She was nothing more than an empty shell.

Did she deserve this?

Was this her punishment?

_

* * *

Ok…so this part of the author's note will benefit for the people who don't get the plot points of this story. The whole subplot with Naori reading a book called "Memories of Miyuba" was to show the origins of the great spiritual pressure that is now in Amui. So a guy, who is obsessed with his girlfriend, wrote the book. It mentions a very special place between the guy and his girlfriend, which you guys can probably guess later. The guy dies. Boohoo. Apparently, his soul is messed up enough to be collecting spiritual power over time in a dormant state. One day, Haruka, the dumb one, decides to wander into the park and the dormant spiritual pressure is transferred into her body. Then, some stuff happens and it is transferred to Amui's body. I hope that answers your question._

_So…who's probably cheering into their computers? Yes…unfortunately, one of them has to go. But, before you get your hopes up, she's not dead. If she were dead, then Naori would have to handle even more shit now that Amui got herself into Soul Society._

_Review!_


	35. GoodBye

_The penultimate chapter! This one is pretty long compared to my previous chapters. This is the chapter where everything is solved, loose ends are tied, and pasts are revealed. If you guys figured out how this story is being told, then this is actually the end of this story and the beginning of the next. Not really…but close…_

**

* * *

Good-Bye**

His snowy white hair was shining when the morning sunlight pierced through his window. His sword laid beside his futon with blankets that reached up to his chin. This was Hitsugaya, bedridden and resting. The captain's young face was no longer pale; in fact, it was lively today with warm colors returning to his cheeks. His glistening closed eyes were now slightly stirring, finally opening up to reveal his turquoise eyes. Groaning in slight pain, Hitsugaya managed to sit up on his futon. The blanket dropped down to his waist, revealing bandages that wrapped around his chest and stopped at the top of his stomach.

"I see you are awake. Hitsugaya-taicho. You've been asleep for three days. You know those are to restrict your movements." Naori smiled when she walked into the room with a fresh roll of bandages. She was glad that he had finally woken up. She reached out towards his chest to unwrap those bandages, but stopped once he uttered out that name…

"Shizumiya…what's her status?" Hitsugaya asked.

Naori retreated her hand as her eyes dropped from her previous gaze. "She's fine."

"That's good…" Hitsugaya said with a sigh, but his relieved face was replaced with a sudden glare at the indifferent Naori. "I don't appreciate that stunt you pulled, Naori. It could have cost me my life."

Naori shrugged. "It worked. That person has been safely sleeping in a coma for three days. She'll wake up soon. All her power is gone now. I already erased every bit of her memories of us. When she wakes up, she'll remember nothing."

"So she's nothing more than a regular human now." Hitsugaya mused on, "Have you contacted Soul Society yet?"

Naori nodded, "Yep. Somebody had to deliver the report seeing that her captain was knocked out for three days."

Hitsugaya glared back at her, "That's because you-" A sudden cough rose up to his throat and he stopped mid-sentence. His hands gripped onto his chest, trying to comfort the searing pain.

"Don't move so much. You're still healing." Naori gently said, finally untying the knot of the wrapped bandages. She unwrapped all the sweaty bandages and threw them off to the side while grabbing the fresh roll. Quickly, she wrapped up his chest again starting from the shoulder down to the stomach, wrapping the bandages tightly enough to restrict his movements. She could hear Hitsugaya wince in pain and a small chuckle escaped from her mouth.

"Don't wrap it so tight." Hitsugaya complained, swatting away Naori's hands. "So what did they say? When can we leave?"

Naori glanced back up to him and stated, "Tomorrow."

"Oh really…" Hitsugaya's turquoise eyes dropped away from her gaze. "That soon…"

Naori simply let the silence overtake him. She knew that he needed some time to think things over. He probably needed to come up with a good plan to settle things over. Maybe she should help him. She was his subordinate. Naori stood up and collected the medical equipment. "In the meantime, I'll see if the spiritual levels of this town are in check." She began to leave. "You should have plenty of time to say your good-byes…"

"Wait Naori." Hitsugaya suddenly called out, making her stop in her steps. "You should see Shizumiya first."

Naori slightly turned to him, gazing at him from the corner of her eye. "Really now?"

"I think you and Shizumiya need to make amends. Everything's over now." He simply stated.

"You should be resting now." Naori quickly said, changing the subject. "I think you can start moving around in a couple of hours."

With that, she quickly vanished away, flash stepping away as fast as she could. Before Naori could even think things over, she found herself at the ex-target's house all over again. _'Why do I always listen to him?'_ She exasperatedly thought to herself. The shinigami girl flew in through the wall and landed beside the bed of the darkened room.

Amui was sleeping soundly in the covers of her pastel bed. Her chestnut hair was spread wildly over her pillow and her hand was dangling out, slightly touching her white fluffy rug. Her reflection of her sleeping figure could be seen in her flat screen TV, which was placed about a few feet away from her. Naori's feet glided smoothly over the dark redwood floor and she propped up Amui's dangling arm.

Naori mumbled, "You're condition is fine. You're stabilized now though you're still in a coma and you probably won't be able to see me anymore." She sighed and pulled up the chair that had accompanied the desk. "I don't know why I'm here. My captain wants me to be here." She glanced at Amui again, remembering their talk together over tea.

"Do you want to hear the rest of my story?"

_"This is stupid." Naori grumbled, pulling up the student uniform so she wouldn't trip. "I don't know why I ever went along with this. It's ridiculous! Unohana-taicho is going to be so pissed when she finds out."_

_She stopped walking and whining when she noticed a commotion around the corner of the hallway. She tiptoed over and peered out over the edge of the wall. She couldn't really see much, only three students. Two students were pretty tall and they obscured the sight of the shorter student. Naori just had to note that he had peculiar white hair, even more bizarre than her amber eyes. And her eyes are pretty bizarre._

"_Hey pipsqueak!" One of the larger students yelled, humorlessly poking in on the indifferent shorter student._

"_What are you doing here? In the upperclassmen hallway?" Another asked, joining in on the bullying._

"_You mean, what is he doing here in general? I can't believe they allowed such a little kid here!"_

"_Move aside." The little student curtly said, trying to push aside the two bullies._

"_Hitsugaya Toushirou! I'm not done with you!" The older student growled, violently pushing the young student back against the wall. "Think you're so high and mighty huh? Prodigy boy?"_

_He coldly glared up at the boys, knowing full well that he can kick their asses in less than a second. But they were still on school property and were prone to getting in trouble. So he'll just shut up for now unless one of them throws the first punch. He didn't expect for that girl with golden eyes peeking out from the side to intervene._

"_This is inappropriate student behavior! Release him immediately before I report you!" Naori's light voice yelled out, pointing at the two bullies. Though her proclamation was met with bewildered gazes from the three students._

"_Who are you? I've never seen you before."_

_The other student simply smirked and lunged out at the girl, trapping her neck between his hands and the wall. "Oh really now? What gives you the right, kid?"_

'_I'm still dressed like a student, aren't I?' Naori nervously thought to herself. "Now. Now. Let's be reasonable."_

"_Maybe we should teach you pipsqueaks who runs the school here." The other student, holding Hitsugaya captive, threatened._

"_Let her go…" The young boy dangerously said, his spiritual pressure spiking high now. He reached out and released his bully's hand out from his neck before promptly pushing him away violently. Hitsugaya stepped over him and ran out to the bully holding Naori captive. He side swept under his feet, letting the older student hit the ground hard. In a flash, Hitsugaya quickly grabbed Naori's arm and forced her behind his back and away from the two older students. As if it was his duty to protect her._

_One of the students growled, "You little brats… Wait till I-"_

"_Wait till you do what? Especially to one of my division members." A motherly voice called out from behind. The mere presence of a captain was enough to stop the two bullies in their tracks. Unohana stood there in all her grace, simply smiling at the two older students. "Hello. My name is Unohana Retsu. I'm the Fourth Division captain who is currently doing an inspection on this school. It seems I may need to make a report about the student behavior."_

_Her relaxed eyes seemed to send daggers right at them. The bullies were now cowering in fear while backed up against the wall. This woman may seem nice and gentle, but her words held a chilling tone within it. She looked like a complete monster that was smiling down on them…a very motherly and gentle monster._

"_You should report back to your classes now. You want to become strong Gotei 13 members…if you make it that far." Unohana finally said before the students scrambled out of there for their lives._

"_Unohana-taicho…" Naori sheepishly said after the two students were gone._

"_Naori-chan! What are you doing in that uniform? My officers should not be playing around in student uniforms. Hurry up and change." Unohana scolded, but she stopped once she noticed the young student. "Who is your friend?"_

_Naori could hear his jaw literally drop behind her and smirked as a response. "Somebody I bumped into…let's continue the inspection, sir."_

"The end." Naori said, finally closing the pages on her story. She intentionally left out these little parts since Amui would be all over her back about the details. She'd want to know how Naori eventually ended up under Hitsugaya's command and that would have caused Naori to be talking for hours. Now that she was in a coma, it didn't matter.

* * *

"Hitsugaya-taicho. We'll need to leave soon. Meet me in that park once you're done." The shinigami girl said when she led her captain towards the place where Amui rested.

"Thanks Naori." Hitsugaya replied, gazing up towards his destination.

Naori simply nodded and disappeared away.

He waited till he could no longer sense his subordinate's spiritual pressure before entering Amui's room. His wounds had healed up, as Naori said, and he was able to walk around now. The bandages were still there, wrapped around his chest, but they've significantly loosened up a bit.

Hitsugaya silently landed on the redwood floor, careful to not mess with the things Amui had in her room. Though there was not a lot to mess with. She had a minimal amount of stuff but her desk had a lot of crap on top like letters and a book. He paused a little to read through the book. It was a weird book, highlighting improbable adventures that could only happen in her dreams.

He decided to stop looking through her stuff and focus back towards the sleeping girl next to him. She looked pretty serene, sleeping in her pastel bed. Amui looked just like any other human girl. A human girl that didn't go through the hardships that Amui went through. He didn't protect her enough unfortunately.

Just like Hinamori.

Now that he realized it, Amui really resembled Hinamori in a way. They held the same smile and had similar bubbly personalities. Yet, they were still very different. (In his opinion, Hinamori was more bearable and likeable) Maybe that was why he chose to protect her. Because she reminded him of Hinamori, he just protected her out of instinct. At least, he managed to accomplish assuring her safety unlike all those times with Hinamori. That was something he could never forgive himself.

He glanced right at Amui's sleeping face. But those thoughts didn't matter now. She was safe and alive. The balance of the world was restored. His job was done.

He just had to say good-bye…

Time seemed to pass by quickly when he was taking his time to find the correct words to use. He had a lot to apologize to her. He was sorry that she got herself mixed into this mess and he couldn't get her out in time. He was sorry for the behavior of his subordinate. He was sorry for all the pain that an innocent human like her went through.

But he didn't say that.

Bye…" He quietly said and turned to leave.

But before then, he made a quick stop in front of her desk. What if she, by chance, suddenly remembered them? Would it be right to just leave without a proper good-bye? He knew that there was no time for that. Would a note hurt? If she did remember them, they could just erase her memory again. If she didn't remember them, the she'll just dismiss the notes and throw them away or something. It didn't seem to be much of harmful thing… He grabbed one of her cute letters and scribbled something onto the piece of paper before stuffing it into an envelope. That should be enough.

**Good-Bye**

**Can you forget?**

* * *

Thunder and lightening scattered the sky with raindrops drenching the girl. She didn't mind. Lightening storms to her were like ice and snow to Hitsugaya. It was their comfort. But it had been raining for a long time now and she needed to go somewhere dry before she catches a cold. But she already told him to meet her in the park so she couldn't really go home. She needed to find shelter and fast!

Naori flash stepped around the park, trying her best to find at least one dry spot. She needed something big like a tree, or a building, or maybe some place hidden in the dark. A curious shinigami wandered in farther through the dark only to be entranced by the red roses that curled around in an arch. She went in closer, her fingers touching the soft red petals and the damp bench. It was a little dark, but it will have to do for now.

Naori took a seat and just waited. Only to have a couple hours pass.

'_He sure is taking his time.'_ Naori thought as she gazed up at the raining sky. '_He must really care about her…'_

She felt her eyes droop and darkness silently approach her. The scenery in front of her was getting pretty foggy now. The trees meshed in with the grass and some of the roses looked like giant cherries. She didn't know why she was falling asleep now. She pulled all-nighters before. Her head fell to the side and her hands dropped from their previous positions. Her sparkling eyes were covered by her dripping eyelashes as her mouth hung open. A little sigh escaped from her mouth while she gradually fell asleep.

Hitsugaya appeared though, probably half an hour after she fell asleep. The captain was unfortunately long overdue, but he still made it. Though the captain had to groan again at the sight of his sleeping subordinate. He heard rumors that she supposedly looked really cute when asleep. Members of his division were always antagonizing him for always having the chance to see her sleeping face. Honestly, he had no idea what they were talking about since he had always found her asleep and never stopped to think things over.

Now was not the time to be thinking these things. They already wasted so much time today and they needed to leave soon. Dawn was breaking in through the stormy clouds, indicating that tomorrow was now. The bright light pierced through the darkness of the dewdrop-covered haven, highlighting the girl sleeping on the lone bench. Her dark blue hair had a few highlighted streaks of light blue and her closed eyes were glistening black. Her face was shining now due to the raindrops littered all over.

He had to admit, she did match up with those rumors…not that Naori needed to know…

"Wake up." Hitsugaya dully said, shaking the girl awake.

"Hitsugaya-taicho?" The girl asked and a yawn escaped her mouth. She rubbed her eyes to get the blurry pictures out of her head. Finally, she asked, "How did you find me?"

Hitsugaya shrugged, "Traced your spiritual pressure…moron, why are you still here? It's raining."

"This place is perfect shelter!" Naori sheepishly quipped. That did not sound like a joke like she intended. "You know what? Let's go. We should probably be making the report."

"Hold on." Hitsugaya quickly said, effectively stopping the girl once again. "Before we report back…let's make a final check-up."

"A final check-up?" Naori blinked in confusion. What did he mean?

Beyond their sight, uncovered by the recent storm, and hidden in the dark. The disgusting, rusted gold was shining with dewdrops splattered across the surface. It read:

**In Memory of Miyuba:**

**True love lies right here**

**Where one encounters other**

**And their love blossoms**

_

* * *

Okay…the last part was pretty cheesy. What can you do? The place was built by a love-with-long-lost-girlfriend-obsessed man. Are all these hints getting to you? If you get it and figured it all out…then you know the ending. If you don't, I wrote many hints about it in this chapter. You just can't catch them.  
_

_In case you didn't get the last part, Hitsugaya and Naori meet each other in Dark Haven where **hint hint** only couples are found **hint hint. **It helps that the uncovered plaque is about **hint hint **love **hint hint**. What could that mean? A possible decision in our love triangle? I don't know…I'll let you guys figure this one out._

_Now, how about you guys figure out what happens in the end?_

_Review!_


	36. all over now

_This is the end. Enjoy this ending chapter! I like to thank all of my reviewers who stuck till the end of this long, long story. I may have delayed many updates for this story, but I'm glad I got to finish it all up in the end. I'm planning on more stories that might involve our little captain and our main OC. One involves a crossover and another may be for an IchiRuki story. I'm still debating... Or I may write for another fandom. I'm still in the decision phase._

_Enjoy this nice chapter! And my usual title banters with ff are not the case for this chapter.  
_

* * *

"Nice gigai. Another one of Matsumoto-fukutaicho's creations?" Naori pointed out once Hitsugaya walked over to meet her. She was sitting at the edge of her seat on the bench while waiting for her captain. The bench was located on the outskirts of the park, conveniently right in front of the shops.

He really looked like a punk. A little kid punk. His gigai was specially outfitted with a black shirt with tight dark blue jeans. If that wasn't dark enough, he had a black belt looped around his pants and a black wristband to finish it off. Black, black, and more black. With an outfit like that, no wonder people in Karakura Town thought that kids with weirdly colored hair were automatically delinquents.

"At least your gigai looks better than your usual outfits." Hitsugaya smartly remarked back.

A twitch of annoyance reached Naori's eyes and she frowned at him. On Matsumoto's insistence, she grudgingly shoved her own gigai into a pair of shorts and _two_ layers of tank tops. That took her a whole ten minutes! What a waste of time! She still wondered why Matsumoto wanted their gigai's to be perfectly presentable when they were stashing them away for an unspecified amount of time.

"That aside… She's in there?" Hitsugaya quickly said, effectively changing their subject of their usual banters.

Naori nodded. "I just saw her walk into that shop."

"Good. Go in and speak with her directly." He quickly ordered.

"What." A dull response replied with the girl tilting her head in confusion. "Is this your last check-up? I assure you that all of her memories are gone."

Hitsugaya simply shrugged. "It can't hurt to double check. Remember, this girl had five captain's worth of spiritual energy sitting in her body."

"Why me? If you wanted to double check, do it yourself." Naori snapped back.

"I'm your captain! That's why!" He equally snapped back. They were going back to their usual arguments again. "Besides…" He sighed and leaned back into a relaxed form. "You spent less time with her. I might trigger something if I went."

Naori stared at him with intent for a while. But she eventually dismissed everything and went along with his orders. She was a member of his division and she had to follow orders. She left his side, crossed the street, and entered into the café.

For a while, Hitsugaya was eventually growing bored since Naori was taking her sweet time. This must have been her secret payback because of yesterday. So to waste time, he decided to do some spiritual pressure monitoring on his cell phone, even if there wasn't really anything to monitor. Naori had already taken care of everything. But that killed off a good five minutes.

But out of the corner of his eye, he could feel someone's gaze on him. Usually, it would be someone staring at his hair, but this feeling was different. It felt familiar. It felt like her. Amui Shizumiya. Hitsugaya quickly glanced up from his phone and instantly, his turquoise eyes immediately was locked with her dark brown eyes. He didn't know why she was staring at him. Did she suddenly remember something? Did she feel something memorable once she looked at him? He didn't know, but she was staring at him as if analyzing each and every movement. It was like she was trying to recall something from him. Their far gaze at each other suddenly broke off once Amui's attention diverted elsewhere.

About time…

He patiently waited for Naori to finish talking. It seemed so unusual for that blue-haired shinigami to be acting so friendly with Amui when she had wanted to kill her half the time. Amui was pretty passive and cordial when she was talking with Naori. She may have never known what history she and that stranger actually had. Suddenly, he saw Naori give a respective bow and quickly leave the café, crossing the street to meet up with him.

"How'd it go?" Hitsugaya asked once Naori was close enough.

"She remembers nothing." Naori reported.

"Absolutely nothing?"

"Nothing." Naori curiously stared at her captain. "Do you want her to remember?"

"No." He immediately responded as if taking offence to her comment.

"Really? You think I didn't catch that staring contest?" Naori stated with her eyebrows perched up in questioning.

'_Now why would she be that observant?'_ He wondered.

Naori sighed and sat down next to him, in her previous spot before she had to go and make that check up. Her amber eyes replaced Amui's dark brown eyes as she was attempting to interrogate her own captain. So, was this the correct time to ask him? They were about to leave anyways so it wouldn't matter.

"Hitsugaya-taicho…" Naori said with a pause, peaking Hitsugaya's interest. "Do you like her?"

At that time, he really wanted to choke her.

"Hibana Naori! What the hell-" Hitsugaya tried to yell at her, but his mouth couldn't form the correct words.

"Do you like her? Or better properly phrased, do you love her? You know, like Ichigo and Rukia?" Naori innocently repeated.

"No! Absolutely not! Never! Why the hell would you think that?" Hitsugaya managed to spit out. His cheeks were clearly burning red.

"You've gotten pretty close to that human girl? You've gone on plenty of dates. You fight for her. You worry about her…" Naori began listing all those times he and Amui were in the same vicinity together.

"First of all, that girl is unbelievably clingy. Second, I made a deal with her because I needed information for our mission. Third, I merely felt sympathetic for her on the whim. Nothing more. Nothing less." He ranted out on her. Yeah, he was still furious that she even brought it up.

"Why are you overreacting now? You seemed so calm about it the last time I asked you." Naori retorted back.

"When was that?"

"When I came back here." Naori quickly answered. "You said that you have no intention of _that_. You weren't going to fall in love with that entity girl because it was against Soul Society's policies. You said your duties as a captain came first!"

"That…" Hitsugaya blinked as the girl was glaring at him. "That…I thought you were talking about my alliance with Shizumiya. I did break protocol for not erasing her memories properly and allying myself with a random human. But I had no other choices to solve this problem. And yes, my duties as a captain were always my top priority."

"Wait…so you mean…" Naori repeated mindlessly to herself, as her cheeks turned bright red just like Hitsugaya's a minute ago. That was the dumbest move she ever made. Ever. She was right about Amui tricking herself into falling in love with him and thinking that he loved her back just the same. But unknowingly, Naori tricked herself into thinking the same thing. That was unbelievably stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. She really wanted to punch herself right now.

"By the way, why did you ask that in the first place?" Hitsugaya smartly questioned, watching her cheeks glow a brighter shade of red.

"That-That's beside the point!" Naori stammered. "Why didn't you just tell me in the first place?"

"I assumed you already knew." Hitsugaya simply replied with a shrug. "Come on. We've been together for many, many years now. You would at least know how to read your captain's actions."

"You jerk…" Naori mumbled as she glared back at him. "Do you know how much of a emotional roller coaster this was?"

Her amber eyes were glistening now, probably from angry tears or something like that. She was such a crybaby. In fact, he already had a perfect nickname picked out for her: Crybaby. Out of all the names he could think of, weak, useless, bipolar, crazy, under-dressed, "crybaby" seemed to fit Naori the best. It sort of developed during this mission whenever he thought of her. Mostly because she sort have reverted back into calling him his old nickname. This time, he didn't want to place any bet or competition with her. He remembered what happened last time. So whenever Naori called him "Hitsu-kun", he would just call her a crybaby. Pretty simple. Just like him and Hinamori's nicknames with each other.

But if she ever asked for his reactions every time she cried…then he would be really stuck. Like now…

"Look…" Hitsugaya said, quickly quieting down the furious girl. "Sorry I caused you to feel that way. You were in pain because of me…sorry." He wiped away a tear that was streaming down her rosy cheek, greatly shocking Naori to no ends.

The greatly embarrassed girl pushed his hand away from her face as she turned around, trying to lose all that color from her face. He just watched her, finding it amusing and peculiar on how flustered his subordinate was acting currently. It was so unlike the Naori he was used to. The Naori he knew was composed, calm, and nearly unreadable like a robot. Here, when she was acting like this, he could read her like an open book. It was sometimes a relief for him whenever she acted so out of her usual character.

Or maybe, he just liked messing with her…

"Stop crying about it. Crybaby."

What did he just call her? Naori glanced up at him with confusion with all the blushing effectively gone. Did he just call her a crybaby? But she didn't even cry…that much. "What did you call me?" She said with a deadly tone in her light voice.

"A crybaby." He smirked. "It fits you."

"I can't believe my own captain is calling me such names!" Naori exasperatedly said.

"You did that to me the first time we met."

"I was young. I was immature. What could I do?"

"Shut up?"

"I-I…" Naori tried to say something, but her voice made it seem like she changed her mind. She merely turned away and refused to look at him any longer. "I-I'm sorry Hitsugaya-taicho. I didn't think you were going to be so sensitive about your name and title."

"Whatever. That happened in the past. Like what I apologized to you about, that happened in the past. We both shouldn't be moping about it now." Hitsugaya passively responded back, effectively putting her at ease. At times like this, she was playable at his hands. He liked that.

"Hey…Hitsugaya-taicho…" Naori hesitantly asked. "I'm going to get a lot of paperwork for this, aren't I?"

"Yeah."

"As always, a big jerk when it comes to punishing people." Naori groaned in a mumble.

"But I'll help you till you finish. Does that seem fair?" He offered for her.

"A little…" Naori quietly admitted to herself, not noticing her captain leaving her side. "Hey! Hitsugaya-taicho!"

"Let's go home. Back to Soul Society." He simply said, grabbing hold of her hand once she got near him and leading her away into the crowds ahead of them.

Naori didn't protest. She just followed him. Almost like it was a direct order. She was his subordinate and he was her captain. A plain and simple working relationship. She always thought of it that way…their relationship with each other. That would never change. Though she didn't mind.

She never did.

* * *

"Hey Shizu-chan!" A loud voice rang inside of Amui's ears through her phone. "Where are you?"

"I'm sitting near the window. Can you see me?" Amui replied, glancing out the window. She had really just been sitting there for about five minutes after the _cute couple_ left.

"Oh wait I can!" Her friend replied and suddenly slid into the seat across from her. "So…how was school without me?"

"Boring."

"Aw! What did you do?"

"The same old. I think I almost pulled an all-nighter yesterday watching TV." Amui replied, sighing as she shook her head. "How was your trip to Paris?"

"Amazing! I'll tell you all about it…" Her friend replied with a glint in her eye. "When we go to visit our school! I really need to do some catch up work! Those torturers (teachers) must hate me now!"

"School? On a weekend?" Amui questioned.

But she was already yanked out of her chair, out of the café, across the street, and hitting the sidewalk with her friend. They walked straight for about ten minutes before turning at the curb and heading straight towards the school. The entire time, they were simply talking. Her lively friend spoke greatly of her adventures in Paris, exclaiming how exquisite everything looked. Amui simply nodded and let her friend talk and talk and talk. Eventually, her friend's motor mouth caused her to wander off away from the conversation. Her attention focused on a nice set of trees lined up on the street across from her, effectively causing the girl to not know where she was going.

All in that instance, something hit her in the shoulder and she tumbled into the ground.

"Shizu-chan! Are you okay?" Her worried friend cried.

Amui couldn't hear her friend at all. At that moment, she didn't even acknowledge her friend's presence. Because in front of her was that boy, the same boy that she was gazing at back at the café. Everything she saw from that window matched up with this boy. The white hair, the dark clothes, and even the cell phone matched.

He held out his hand and she took it to help herself up. Why did his hand feel so familiar? She quickly said her apologies and he shrugged, probably his way of accepting that apology. Everything went by so fast because before Amui knew it, he was mysteriously gone. That familiar feeling was gone. His very presence disappeared. He didn't even speak a single word to her. All those hopes she had that she was maybe forgetting someone and her speculations that it was him…gone.

"Damn…he's a hottie! You think you have a chance?" Her excited friend squealed.

"Me? Uh…no?" Amui stalled.

"I don't know. He just might be into you!" Her friend squealed again. "But he's definitely my type!"

"Don't get your hopes up. I think he has a girlfriend." Amui quickly said once she noticed the same girl, who asked for directions, run up to him.

"Really now? You may never know until you're sure…"

"I think I'm positive on this one." Amui confirmed. "Besides, I don't think I'll be a good couple with him."

"Fine, fine." Her friend grumbled, but a twinkle was still in her eye. "But think about it!"

"Shut up!" Amui exasperatedly groaned. "This conversation is **all over now**!"

**Fin**

**

* * *

**_Thus with this__...it's the end of my story. I hope you guys enjoyed the ups and downs of this story. Your aggravation with Amui, your horror at the sight of crazy Naori, and your giddiness of when I shipped Hitsugaya and Naori together. I'm proud that I was able to finish this long story and I'm glad you reviewers took the time to read and review. It was a great pleasure! Thank you forever!_

_Thank you, everyone, for enjoying this story! KyraX signing out!  
_


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